As co-secretariat of the UN Global Compact CEO Water Mandate, the Pacific Institute will be involved in a variety of events during the upcoming 8th World Water Forum in Brasília, Brazil from March 18 through 23. The events will encompass a wide variety of corporate water stewardship topics, including: private sector engagement on climate, water, and sustainable agriculture; private sector engagement on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); and exploring opportunities for partnerships and collective action in Brazil.

Read more about World Water Forum 8 here. 

The theme of this year's World Water Day on March 22 is "Nature for Water," bringing attention to the many ways nature-based solutions can contribute to solving 21st century water challenges. 

One nature-based solution to the urban water challenge is rain gardens, as explored in a report co-authored by the Pacific Institute . 

Read more about World Water Day 2018 here. 

 

Sustainable water supply depends on more than just rainfall and water quality -- how water is managed by public institutions is just as important. The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are embarking on a project to create a global database of municipal water management information. To crowdsource the data, WRI is working with the Pacific Institute to reach out to businesses and collect standardized water management information. 

Read more here. 

Laura Feinstein has been appointed to the SB 83 Independent Review  Panel for the Department of Conservation's Underground Injection Control Program, which oversees the practice of injecting fluids underground as part of oil and gas production. 

Read more here. 

Five years ago, a band of farmers in northwest Kansas decided that pumping prodigious volumes of water from the Ogallala Aquifer was a path to ruin, so they created self-imposed groundwater restrictions. Brett Walton has an update.  

Read more here.  Visit Circle of Blue's website here. 

Read more about this opportunity here. 

Pacific Institute Experts' Outreach

Cape Town is expected to run out of water by mid-summer, turning off the taps for the city's four million inhabitants. On April 12, at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, Director of Research Heather Cooley will discuss Cape Town's water shortage, what climate change and population growth mean for water in urban areas, and how other cities might meet these challenges.  

Learn more about this event here. 

March 18-23: Pacific Institute staff at World Water Forum 8 in Brasilia, Brazil 

March 20: Senior Research Associate Sarah Diringer at the 2018 Natural Capital Symposium in Stanford, California

March 23: Senior Research Associate Laura Feinstein at the California Water Policy Conference 27 in Davis, California

March 26: Sarah Diringer at the Sustainable Water Management Conference in Seattle

April 5: Laura Feinstein at the Water Affordability Symposium in Davis, California

Keep an eye out for more upcoming staff events on our news page.  Read the list of Pacific Institute experts' past outreach here.

Rolling Stone:  Welcome to the Age of Climate Migration

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Day Zero: Lessons from Cape Town's Crisis

KPCC:  From Almonds to Rice, Climate Change Could Slash California Crop Yields by 2050

KUNC:  How a Dying Lake in California Factors into the Colorado River's Future

Read more news stories and op-eds featuring the Pacific Institute here. 

Meeting the global need for freshwater will require cooperation between all sectors of society, making the Pacific Institute's collaborative approach more important than ever. Your gift to our Rapid Response Fund will help us advance innovative and equitable water solutions.