Can a Public University Fix a City’s Achilles Heel?

UCLA Is Mobilizing Its Brains and Its Muscle to Make L.A. Energy and Water Independent

Can a university really help make its home city 100 percent independent on water and energy?

In Los Angeles, we’re going to find out. UCLA, where I’ve spent almost 50 years on the faculty of the business school, has issued a Grand Challenge: “achieving sustainability in energy and water while enhancing ecosystem health in Los Angeles County by 2050.” And more than 150 faculty members, researchers, and other scholars making up an entity called Sustainable LA Grand Challenge have committed to helping the university—and our city—succeed.

That is a huge …

Could L.A. Become a River City?

Neighborhoods in the City's Northeast and San Fernando Valley Ripple with Opportunities for Housing, Offices, and Parks

Could Los Angeles become a river city?

All the progress in revitalizing the Los Angeles River has presented the city with a special opportunity: to develop the communities along the river, …

Southern California’s Reservoirs Are Fuller Than You Think

It's Hard to Watch Boats Glide Over a 40-Billion-Gallon Lake and Feel Despair

On a recent trip to Wyoming, I was talking to one of the locals about the drought back home in Southern California. She had heard that it was so bad …

Six Ways We Can Keep the World From Drying Up

As Water Disappears, These New Techniques Will Help Us Stave Off Perpetual Drought

Early last year, Californians, already deep in their state’s drought panic, confronted a depressing statistic. Governor Jerry Brown had called for cities and towns to voluntarily cut down on water …

A California Painter Laments the Drying Landscape

As the Drought Rages on, an Artist Struggles to Find Inspiration Among Shriveled Poppies and Ankle-Deep Rivers

As an outdoor landscape and seascape painter, I’m used to seeing places change over the years. I painted a stately cottonwood tree on an Owens Valley country lane in the …

How Water Scarcity Shaped America

The Continental Divide—the Country's Spine—Has Been the Source of Conflicts and Compromises Over the Precious Commodity for Centuries

Water, when scarce, has split the nation into warring factions. But it has also united fractured regions. Water can both release the demons of war and stir the better angels …