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A view of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta from Sacramento.

Environment

The Trump Administration Calls for More Water and Less Regulation in California’s Central Valley

The announcement prompted the California State Water Resources Control Board to postpone its vote on a proposal restricting agricultural water use in the Delta.

Pakistani farmers use tractors at the Kabul River to pump water used for field irrigation on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on March 22nd, 2018.

News in Brief

Viewfinder: Irrigation Pumps in Pakistan

Pakistani farmers use tractors at the Kabul River to pump water used for field irrigation on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on March 22nd, 2018.

Pacific Standard Staff

In this photograph taken on September 24th, 2015, Indonesian military troops extinguish a fire at a vast burning peat land forest in the Jabiren Raya district of Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island during President Joko Widodo's inspection of firefighting operations to control agricultural and forest fires.

Environment

Groundwater Could Play a Major Role in Controlling and Preventing Forest Fires

A recent study puts forth a new factor for judging the flammability of forests: groundwater.

News in Brief

Irrigation Nation

How an esoteric piece of farm equipment created America’s breadbasket—and threatens to destroy it. By Ted Genoways (Photo:…

Pacific Standard Staff

Social Justice

Donald Trump and the Environmental Cost of Luxury Golf

“Brown Is the New Green”—unless you’ve got deep pockets.

Environment

Use It or Lose It: Across the West, Exercising One’s Right to Waste Water

“Use it or lose it” clauses give farmers, ranchers, and governments holding water rights a powerful incentive to use more water than they need.

Abrahm Lustgarten

Social Justice

A Look Back at the Droughts That Made Californians Take Droughts Seriously

"The loss of cattle was fearful. The plains were strewn with their carcasses."

Environment

Is There a Solution to America’s Obsession With Lawn Care?

Irrigation and fertilization use varies across and even within cities. Sustainable management plans must rely on a more targeted approach.

Environment

How Rube Goldberg Would Have Watered the West

Who needs pipelines when massive hydro-cannons could blast water across California’s deserts?

Economics

Trading ‘Virtual’ Water

Do exports of water-intensive crops hurt drought-prone California?