Water
California Water Suppliers Respond to Drought and Climate Change
Jeff Kightlinger, General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, details the ongoing preparation and response his regional water agency has championed in the face of the driest calendar year in the state's history.
Friday Eye Candy: The 'Most Definitive' Film About Water
Canadian filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier created a feature length documentary film called Watermark to capture the “existential interactions around the world with water."
San Francisco Enacts Plastic Water Bottle Ban
First came plastic bags, then styrofoam cups, and now, plastic water bottles—though the ban is not as far-reaching as the former two in that it is restricted to sales on city property, including street fairs.
More Funding for Philly’s Urban Watershed Efforts
With the "Green City, Clean Waters" initiative already underway, a recent grant from the U.S. EPA will help Philadelphia evaluate best practices for building and maintaing its urban watershed.
Vast Freshwater Reserves Found in the Last Place You'd Look
Australian researchers are agog over the discovery of 120,000 cubic miles of freshwater beneath the ocean floor. The reserves may help quench the world's approaching freshwater crisis.
Updates Seek to Strengthen California's Water Plan and Build Consensus
Jeff Kightlinger, General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, discusses Governor Brown's Bay Delta Conservation Plan and the risks natural disasters and climate change pose to California's water infrastructure.
Rivals Clog Governor's Plan for Solving CA's Water Woes
In a bit of political deja vu, opponents (many from his own party) who once derailed Gov. Jerry Brown's Peripheral Canal waterway plan have lined up to defeat his latest proposal for meeting the state's future water needs.
Environmental and Transportation Challenges Await New L.A. Mayor
Whoever is victorious in today's election to choose L.A.'s next mayor, the celebrating may be short lived. Pressing needs to strengthen the city's water supply, maintain transit momentum, and relieve toxic hotspots await the city's next leader.
Going, Going, Gone: High Plains Drains its Water Supply
Years of record drought and more intensive farming are draining the High Plains Aquifer, distressing farmers from Colorado to Texas. Rural communities are suffering from dwindling water supplies.
Phoenix Confronts the Challenges of Inland Climate Change
Much attention has been paid recently to the challenges that a changing climate are bringing to coastal communities. But "inland empires" aren't immune. Phoenix's struggles with heat, drought, and violent winds are a presage of things to come.
The Conundrum of local food and/vs. sustainability
Most plants grown for food require significant amounts of water - water that Los Angeles doesn't have. How does one identify the point at which local isn't sustainable?
Can California's Delta Plan Balance Infrastructure Investment with Environmental Protections?
Jerry Meral, Deputy Secretary of Resources in California, discusses balancing myriad stakeholders and goals in pushing for Governor Brown's controversial Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta plan.
Desalinization Plant Needed to Prevent Gaza from Becoming "Unlivable"
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency warns in a new report that the aquifer underlying Gaza is rapidly depleting, and could be beyond repair by 2020, rendering Gaza "unlivable." Hope may lie in massive investments in a desalinization plant.
Northern California Farmers Decry $14 Billion Water Plan
Norimitsu Onishi reports on the major rift caused by a proposed plan for twin 35-mile tunnels to take water from the Sacramento River to large corporate farms and densely populated regions in Central and Southern California.
L.A. Bureau of Sanitation at the Forefront of Water Sustainability
Enrique Zaldivar, Director of the Bureau of Sanitation, explains the city's efforts to maintain public health and promote water conservation. As urban areas guard natural resources and urban environments, L.A. presents some successful first steps.
Buying Water by the Baggie in Lagos
In a city where urban water infrastructure ranges from "insufficient" to "nonexistent," Lagos entrepreneurs have developed a bustling trade in "sachet water." Is it time to focus more attention on regulating the sachet industry?
A Plan to Finally Fix California's Water Problems?
California's Governor Jerry Brown unveils his administration's new plan in hopes of finally balancing the state's competing water interests. The cost? $14 billion over a decade.
What's Driving Water Rates and Combativeness in San Diego?
Steven Erie, a professor of political science and the Director of the Urban Studies Program at UC San Diego, discusses how the San Diego County Water Authority's finger-pointing obfuscates the region's discourse on what is really driving water rates.
Oakland, CA: Zero Waste by 2020?
Anna Leidreiter explores the ecological principles underlying Oakland's dramatically successful waste reduction program, and echoes the refrain that modern cities must think about consumption and waste in cyclical terms.
San Diego Cries Foul Over High Water Prices
Allegations of conspiracy and bullying haunt access to water in the arid, Mediterranean climate of San Diego, Adam Nagourney and Felicity Barringer report.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
