Climate experts to present research at UCI drought conference

Hundreds of climate experts will gather from April 20 to 22 at UC Irvine to present their latest research on California’s drought.

The conference, “California Drought: Causes, Consequences and Policy,” invites water managers, policymakers and top researchers from across the United States to share their findings on why the Golden State continues to suffer a drought that is now in its fourth year.

The research covers water supply, ecosystems, drought monitoring, climate change, water policies and solutions that could help manage California’s water, which irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland and serves about 30 million people.

“We realize this drought has serious consequences facing not just California but the whole planet,” said Dave Feldman, chairman of the Department of Planning, Policy and Design for UCI’s School of Social Ecology. “The way we manage water is an issue that has global implications.”

The conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 20, 8:30 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. April 21 and 8:30 a.m. to 4:35 p.m. April 22 at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences & Engineering, 100 Academy Drive, Irvine.

Registration is $325 for students and $525 for others. The deadline is Friday. To register, visit chapman.agu.org/drought/registration.

The event is being presented by the American Geophysical Union, the UCI Center for Hydrometeorology & Remote Sensing and Water UCI.