Growing Returns: Western Water

The passage of AB 252 is an important step towards transforming the San Joaquin Valley into a model agricultural region that feeds our nation and supports supports wildlife, outdoor recreation, soil health, groundwater recharge and flood control.

The post Dusty barren fields or thriving farmland and habitat? This bill creates a better vision for California’s future first appeared on Growing Returns.

Rural communities have long been ignored in water and land-use decisions in the San Joaquin Valley. Vicky Espinoza aims to change that.

The post After decades of inequity, this woman is bringing long-overlooked voices to California’s land and water decisions first appeared on Growing Returns.

California's small-scale farmers are often left out of the water policy discussion. Ruth Dahlquist-Willard shares what SGMA means for her and other small-scale farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.

The post Small California farmers are often overlooked in water policy. Here’s a look at their unique challenges. first appeared on Growing Returns.

Many of Arizona's ecologically important waterways are now at risk of pollution and even destruction as a result of recent rollbacks of federal protections. Here's how you can help protect them.

The post 3 simple steps to help protect Arizona’s at-risk rivers and lakes first appeared on Growing Returns.

Rural Arizona communities don't have the tools they need to address dwindling water supplies, so state and local policy makers need to act.

The post Rural Arizonans need these tools to manage declining groundwater resources, fast first appeared on Growing Returns.

A new platform will provide landowners and growers with the right tools to manage their water budgets in response to SGMA.

The post A Craigslist for water trading? Learn how this new water management platform works first appeared on Growing Returns.

This new legal resource will help water managers navigate complex water law as they implement California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

The post How groundwater managers can avoid the courts as they divvy up water first appeared on Growing Returns.

For the first time, data on how much water crops use will be widely available at no to low cost to farmers and water managers in 17 western states.

Given how important it is to have clean water during this pandemic, California must prioritize safe and affordable drinking water.

This new mapping tool identifies opportunities for multibenefit groundwater recharge in California’s Central Valley.

The world is a different place now than it was when I grew up in Houston in the 1980s. I have vivid memories of steamy summer thunderstorms consistently interrupting my afternoons at the neighborhood pool. My sister and I would head home and swap our swimsuits for raincoats, then stomp around muddy ditches and dig […]

Collaboration, innovation and leadership on groundwater are needed then to ensure a resilient economic future for Arizona’s cities.

Even during a global pandemic, California lawmakers are dedicated to keeping groundwater a top priority.

Three ways groundwater managers, farmers and policymakers can ensure more sustainable water supplies for California.

New guide helps groundwater managers build recharge basins that provide operational benefits while also creating valuable waterbird habitat.

Now that critically overdrafted groundwater basins in the Central Valley have submitted their sustainability plans, the hard work begins for them to balance groundwater supply and demand in ways that minimize economic disruption. A state program called Regional Conservation Investment Strategies can help.

Lack of oversight and transparency on groundwater pumping has left Arizona's rural communities powerless to secure their water supplies. This bill could change that.

We still need a paradigm shift to balance our water supplies. Here are four steps to help drive that shift.

California takes a major step forward in ensuring that the state continues to have a dynamic economy and thriving ecosystems. Here are the four most important aspects of the portfolio.

How the Hopi way of farming can inspire other farmers seeking to become more resilient to climate change and increasingly finite water supplies.