WATER WHIPLASH

This program is made possible by support from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.

Californians are accustomed to living through wet times and dry times, but lately things are getting more extreme and much more difficult to predict. After five years of severe drought, Californians are now talking about what it means to have too much water. The end of the drought is a blessing, but the state may need to find $50 billion to repair dams, roads and other infrastructure threatened by floods. The damaged spillway at Oroville Dam highlighted what happens when the state doesn’t keep its water system in good working order.

How is California preparing for the whiplash of going from really dry to really wet years? What will it take to fix the system that delivers the water that keeps us alive and lubricates our economy? How will state and federal governments work together to modernize the water systems responsible for growing the food that lands on our dinner tables?