The New Geography of California Water
Spring 2004 Lecture Series
Sponsored by the John Muir Institute for the Environment and the Geography Graduate Group
California faces many water resource challenges in upcoming years. Urban, agricultural, and environmental needs compete for limited resources. This lecture series examines water supply, including economic, legal, political, institutional, and physical demands on California’s water systems. Emphasis is on forward-thinking discussions of problems and solutions.
Managing Water for People and Fish in the 21st Century
Original event date: 4.07.04
Length: 92 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Tim Quinn (Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) talks about how the largest water wholesaler in California delivers water to Southern California even during droughts; how farmers benefit by selling water, and how water quality is traded and banked in complex water markets enabled by California’s vast infrastructure of water conveyances.
Trends in California Water Management: Where Have We Been, and Where Are We Going?
Original event date: 4.14.04
Length: 99 minutes
Play using: Real Player
B.J. Miller (Consulting Engineer, Berkeley) shares the big picture of California water policy, including sources, quantities, users, and an excellent overview of what went wrong. Miller sorts technical from political issues and approaches them with pragmatic solutions that remain relevant.
Water Quality and Water Policy in California
Original event date: 4.21.04
Length: 104 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Fast forward past 20 minutes of sound glitches to get a first hand glimpse of the state water board and their decisions on the Salton Sea, Colorado River, Mono Lake and other Southern California water crises. Richard Katz (State Water Resource Control Board Member) speaks on a grab bag of topics including desalination, conservation, water markets, water law, groundwater contamination, and even city charters that forbid water meters.
Sustaining California’s Agricultural Water Supplies
Original event date: 4.25.04
Length: 112 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Water attorney, Tom Birmingham (Westlands Water District), explains how the Westlands irrigation district supplies water to farmers in spite of growing pressures for environmental water. Conservation, water transfers, groundwater, and litigation are some of the strategies he presents through examples of legal battles for California water.
Water Marketing and Groundwater Storage: Policy and Management
Original event date: 5.05.04
Length: 97 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Greg Thomas (Natural Heritage Institute) knows about using groundwater. All the details of the feasibility of groundwater storage for environmental usage, and an overview of water law and institutional constraints in federal reclamation projects. Thomas’s final reports are available at the NHI website, and are reported to have influenced water banking in California.
Legislative Leadership and Expectations in California Water Policy
Original event date: 5.12.04
Length: 65 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Mike Machado (California State Senate) gives insight into a political view of water. Things really take off in the Q&A session, where topics such as beneficiary pay reservoirs, aquifer ordinances, water’s impact on jobs, and the loss of policy expertise due to term limits are discussed.
Panel Discussion: Mark Lubell, Richard Howitt, Graham Fogg, and Jay Lund
Original event date: 5.19.04
Length: 54 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Fast forward through 9:24 minutes set up to view Lubell’s political science review of collective action problems, Howitt’s economic overview on markets and trading mechanisms, and Fogg’s practical insight on managing groundwater quality. Lund does only introductions.
Water Management Tools and Water Supply Reliability: How Do They Fit Together?
Original event date: 5.26.04
Length: 87 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Formerly at State Water Contractors and the CA Department Water Resources, Steve Macaulay (California Urban Water Agencies) represents education and science for nine large water purveyors in CA. Watch a futuristic video in video British/Dutch short on water in 2023, followed by water storage options and a thorough overview on reliability.
Restoring Hetch Hetchy and California’s Water Future
Original event date: 6.02.04
Length: 93 minutes
Play using: Real Player
Just prior to the release of their 2004 report, environmental attorney Tom Graff (Environmental Defense) talks about water supplies to Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Modesto and Turlock, and the squeeze that restoring this Yosemite valley would put on the Metropolitan Water District and the other major recipients of Hetch Hetchy’s reservoir.
Integrated Water Resources Planning from a Southern California Water Agency Perspective
Original event date: 6.09.04
Length: 52 minutes
Play using: Real Player
A conservation champion that cut her teeth saving Mono Lake is saving water for the water district with one of the fastest growing populations in Southern California. Martha Davis (Inland Empire Utility) explains how the district’s unique portfolio plans to meet future needs with local water and without increases in inter-basin transfers. Strategies include energy from dairy manure, capturing runoff to recharge groundwater, and implementing water reuse and water saving devices and technologies.