Forecasting Future Demand in California’s Water Crisis

Looking Ahead May be Vital to Help Control Growing Disaster

MILWAUKEE, July 7, 2015 - California is in the middle of an unprecedented crisis when it comes to water supply and demand. In the last three years the state has seen the lowest recorded rainfall in history. This lead to government-mandated water use restrictions statewide.

While weather forecasters can’t always predict when it will rain, forecasting in a much different way could hold the key to keeping California from drying up.

“Forecasting Urban Water Demand in California” is a comprehensive research study from a team at the University of California, Berkeley, led by Dr. Steven C. Buck, PhD of the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics. Dr. Buck and his team looked into residential demand for the next 20 years.

“This is a cautionary tale,” Dr. Buck said. “Having a sense of what demand will be like will help evaluate things such as infrastructure projects in the future.”

The paper will be presented July 28th as part of the 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

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Contact: Allison Scheetz
Senior Communications Manager
(414) 918-3190
Email: ascheetz@aaea.org