New data comes from UCLA's 2025 Southern California Community Water Systems Atlas shows that in Los Angeles County, average household water bills climbed nearly 60% from 2015 to 2025, faster than inflation, putting significant strain on the region's lower-income households. Read more.
SLAGC News
Global warming has advanced wildfire season from one to almost seven weeks earlier, a new UCLA study shows.
In the wake of the January 2025 LA fires, LADWP commissioned UCLA—through its long-standing partnership with the university, stewarded by SLAGC—to bring together leading subject matter experts, high-level industry decision-makers at the cutting edge of innovation in water and energy infrastructure, and leadership from multiple regional utilities to tackle the challenges facing the country's largest municipal utility in the face of growing climate risks. Read more.
For households, going electric can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide healthier indoor air quality—but what happens to their energy bills? This is a critical question facing the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) as the utility aims to transition to renewable energy equitably. A new UCLA tool, built through the university's partnership with LADWP, illustrates potential savings across household types and upgrade scenarios.
More than 40 scholars contributed their expertise to the independent commission, which issued its final recommendations today.
The effort was led by the Luskin Center of Innovation, in partnership with the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and with support from the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge. Read more.
UCLA’s Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative (CWRI) Launches New Research and Policy Working Group on Urban Water Supply-Wildfire Dynamics, led by UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) in partnership with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ (UCANR) California Institute for Water Resources
UCLA experts discuss the impacts of the January 2025 LA Fires on public health.
UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) and UCLA's Sustainable LA Grand Challenge (SLAGC) presents a webinar called: "Expert Insights on the Causes, Impacts and Aftermath of the L.A. Wildfires."
Featuring an informative panel of wildfire, water quality, air quality and climate science faculty experts:
- Alex Hall, a climate science expert and faculty director of UCLA's Sustainable LA Grand Challenge
- Greg Pierce, a water quality expert and senior director of UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
- Yifang Zhu, an air quality expert, associate director of UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability's Center for Clean Air, and professor of Environmental Health Sciences with UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
- Moderated by: Nurit Katz, UCLA Chief Sustainability Officer