State water officials, researchers provide latest drought data, strategies

EVENT: Four top experts on California’s increasingly scarce water resources will present the latest precipitation and supply data for the state, including southern coastal and desert areas and the Colorado River basin. State climatologist Michael Anderson, Department of Water Resources Interstate Resources Manager Jeanine Jones, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist Martin Hoerling, and Water UCI director David Feldman will participate in the media briefing. It’s part of a three-day national conference that includes findings on critical research gaps, emerging technologies in drought prediction, the urgent need to use treated wastewater and how wildflowers are faring.

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, April 21, 10-11 a.m. Arnold & Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences & Engineering bldg. 80, grid C4 on campus map: http://communications.uci.edu/documents/pdf/UCI_14_map_campus_core.pdf

INFORMATION: Media planning to attend should contact Janet Wilson at 949-824-3969, 213-880-8948 or janethw@uci.edu. A live web stream of the briefing can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cEVfKwcJmA

BACKGROUND: California is in its fourth year of drought, affecting 30 million people and over 5.6 million acres of farmland. Following the lowest snowpack ever recorded, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. has ordered cities and towns across California to cut water use sharply – a first in state history. At the conference, national researchers and state water managers are exploring drought monitoring and prediction, its impacts on water supply and ecosystems, possible links to climate change, and policy solutions to enhance California’s resilience.