Category Archives: Economic Impact

COVID-19 Will Change the Water Industry, a Trilogy: Engage in Strategic Planning, Risk Assessment and Learning

COVID-19 has destroyed the water industry’s economic model (see COVID-19 Will Change the Water Industry, a Trilogy: The Industry’s Economic Model Is Dead) and provides a natural experiment of the impact of economic activity on the environment requiring an enhanced role for improved science (see COVID-19 Will Change the Water Industry, a Trilogy: Enhanced Role for Improved Science). What does all this mean for planning and decision-making?

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COVID-19 Will Change the Water Industry, a Trilogy: Enhanced Role for Improved Science

Look at the skies.  Are you enjoying the best air quality of your life?  Hydrowonk is.

COVID-19 is a natural experiment of the impact of economic activity on the environment.  Will the water industry take advantage of this generational opportunity?  If so, how?

It is time to abandon how science is used in the water industry today and embrace science using 21st century technology.  By integrating improved science into regulatory structures, our industry can improve the management of water resources and the environment.

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COVID-19 Will Change the Water Industry, a Trilogy: The Industry’s Economic Model Is Dead

The COVID-19 pandemic is (hopefully) once in a lifetime disrupter of our lives.  The public health establishment has been shattered and is being rebuilt on the fly.  The economy is in shambles.  We are learning about supply chains and interconnectedness of economic activity.  Who is immune?  No one.

Hydrowonk’s COVID-19 trilogy shares reflections on the pandemic’s implications for the water industry’s historic economic model, the role of science, and planning.  I confess that very few of these ideas were constantly on my mind until recently, although some were simmering.

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The Water Haves and Have-nots in the Winter of 2017

In my last post, I wrote about how long-suffering California is having a good start to the water year as weather patterns have changed and so far, ample rainfall has fallen across the Golden State. A series of powerful storms this weekend and continuing this week has already caused flooding and widespread damage across parts of California. In Sacramento, Monday marked the first time in ten years that officials opened the Sacramento Weir to divert floodwaters to the Yolo Bypass and prevent further damage downstream. Strong winds also toppled the iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree, a hollowed-out sequoia large enough for cars to drive through. Further “atmospheric river” storms are expected to hit across the state as the week continues.

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