EDITOR'S ADVISORY: California water expert available to journalists

A UCSC faculty member who is a leading expert on California's complicated water rights and delivery system is available to assist journalists with their coverage of the state's ongoing water crises.

What: Leading expert on California water policy

Why: State water officials are monitoring the Sierra snowpack in hopes precipitation totals will pick up before the end of winter. The Department of Water Resources' next measurement takes place Thursday, February 27.

Who: Brent Haddad, a leading expert on California's complicated water rights and delivery system, is available to assist journalists with their coverage of the state's ongoing water crises.

The author of the acclaimed Rivers of Gold, about California's water wars between cities and farms, Haddad has been compared to the late Marc Reisner for the breadth and depth of his knowledge about state water policy.

Water-policy issues are front-page news as population growth, loss of Colorado River water, and ongoing frictions among cities, farmers, and environmentalists have increased demand on the state's limited water resources.

An associate professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Haddad recently briefed state Senators Michael Machado and Charles Poochigian, chair and ranking member of the Senate Agriculture and Water Committee, respectively, on the direction state water policy should take in the coming years.

Contact: Contact Brent Haddad at (831) 459-4149 or via e-mail at bhaddad@ucsc.edu. Haddad may also be reached via Jennifer McNulty in the UC Santa Cruz Public Information Office at (831) 459-4399 or jmcnulty@ucsc.edu.