Water Resources

First comes the drought, then the deluge. It’s not just that climate change is making the weather more extreme, with hotter dry spells and warmer winters that transform mountain snowpack to water. It’s also that the drought has actually made flooding more likely by diminishing the soil’s capacity to soak up moisture. It’s as if dryness defends its turf against wetness — baking the dirt into an impermeable crust, or turning it into a hydrophobic crumb that causes raindrops to bead off. ...

For months — for four years, really — California has been dying for a drink. Repeated dry winters and scorching hot summers have depleted reservoirs and river systems and set fire to much of the landscape.

Brenda Zollitsch recently completed her report, Status and Trends Report on State Wetland Programs in the United States, which provides a comprehensive look at how states are approaching each of the four core elements for state wetland programs, including state summary documents, comparative data analysis and maps, descriptive text on status and trends and documentation of potential models.

The S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation asked three researchers to interview various sectors of the water data community in depth, including agencies that routinely manage water data and are therefore most familiar with the current state of water information systems. Fellow Mark Tompkins was one of the team, and offers this Executive Summary of the study's findings with the Foundation's permission. Read more

Despite rising temperatures, Californians this summer cut their water use significantly in an effort to help the state deal with a severe, ongoing drought.

Despite rising temperatures, Californians this summer cut their water use significantly in an effort to help the state deal with a severe, ongoing drought. The reduction for two straight months — by more than 31 percent in July alone –caught many officials by surprise, but not Mike Antos, director of California State University, Northridge’s new Center for Urban Water Resilience.

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) proudly announces twelve distinguished members as the 2015 WEF Fellows recipients. This prestigious designation recognizes career achievements, stature, and contributions to the water profession.

A special state commission charged with studying the safety of public drinking water systems across West Virginia resumed work this week, eight months after completing its last report to the Legislature. ...

Scott Hamshaw is a UVM grad student who monitors and models stream bank erosion using ground-based lasers. If he and his colleagues can use a drone instead, they'll cover a wider area with fewer people. "We've seen some really good results, particularly in areas where we don't have heavy vegetative cover," Hamshaw said. Researchers hope their work will improve the public image of drones by capturing images that could make a difference.