RAND Policy Forum
Coming Up Dry? Climate Change and California's Water Supply
Date: |
April 17, 2008 |
Time: |
5:30 P.M. – Registration |
Location: |
The RAND Corporation |
Program
Across the United States, cities, regions, and states are recognizing that they must prepare to adapt to the local effects of our warming planet. In California, climate change is expected to result in diminishing snowpack, more intense storms, increasingly frequent drought, and rising sea levels, straining even further the state's perennially stressed water resources and infrastructure. But the ability of government and other stakeholders to prepare for these challenges is complicated by the fact that even the best scientific projections about the precise impacts of climate change contain significant uncertainty. RAND has pioneered new approaches to help public- and private-sector actors develop response plans that will help ensure adequate and affordable water supplies across a wide range of possible climate futures. This forum brings together RAND policy expertise with one of Southern California's leading water policymakers to explore the implications of climate change for California's water needs and what can and should be done now to prepare for an unpredictable future.
Featured Speakers
- Jeffrey Kightlinger, General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Member, Water Utility Climate Alliance
- Robert Lempert, Senior Physical Scientist, RAND Corporation; Contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
- David Groves, Associate Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation
- Debra Knopman (moderator), Vice President, RAND Corporation; Director, RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment
About RAND
RAND is a nonprofit organization that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. As the first research institution to be called a “think tank,” RAND has been expanding the boundaries of human knowledge for 60 years and continually seeks nonpartisan solutions to the most pressing challenges of our day. Initially, RAND focused on issues of national security; today, RAND uses its intellectual reserves to make a difference in additional areas such as health, education, business, law, and science. No other institution tackles tough policy problems across so broad a spectrum.
Further Inquiries
Contact events@rand.org.
Top