Reforming Water Allocation Systems - A California Case Study

Water allocation systems in the United States and many other nations were developed a century or more ago to handle very different problems than confront water policymakers today.  The resulting systems hampers the governments' ability to meet their populations' needs.  This has been especially true in California during the recent drought.  At the heart of California's difficulties is an unusually complex and inefficient array of water rights. In my talk, I will discuss the challenges that California's water system has posed during the drought and suggest reforms to strengthen the state's ability to weather droughts and shifting economic demands for water in the future.

Speaker: Barton Thompson, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment