UCLA Expert: Gregory Pierce: Adjunct Assistant Professor, Luskin School of Public Affairs; Co-Director, Luskin Center for Innovation; Co-Director, UCLA Water Resources Group; Member, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Senior Researcher, Water and Transportation Initiatives

Synopsis: California’s snowpack typically supplies about a third of California’s water supply, and the last three years have been the driest on record, triggering a statewide drought emergency and unprecedented water restrictions. The precipitation this spring has relieved some of that stress.

UCLA News: “This precipitation is great, and it does mean we can let up a little bit on some of the most radical things we were doing — and particularly we can breathe a little bit easier for communities that were literally running out of water or about to run out of water,” Pierce said. “But we also can’t let up at all when it comes to conservation, long-term measures and major investments in recycling, large-scale stormwater-to-groundwater capture and other technologies,” he added. “We bought ourselves some more time, so we don’t need to be in that hyper-emergency, but we’re always in a drought.”