Here is some selected coverage.
Feature Stories
Tufts Now, Earth Advocates, Protecting the Earth’s Groundwater, January 19, 2024
Felicity Barringer’s feature story from May 31, 2011, on the front page of the Science Times.
ASU News, Mapping our Water Reserves for the Future, November 2, 2023
LA Times, Full-On Crisis: Groundwater in California’s Central Valley Disappearing at Alarming Rate, feature story from Ian James, December 22, 2022
ProPublica, As Colorado River Dries, the U.S. Teeters on the Brink of Larger Water Crisis, interview with Abrahm Lustgarten, August 25, 2022
The Walrus, How Climate Change is Affecting Water Security in Canada and Around the World, Q & A with Jessica Wei, April 23, 2021
The Globe and Mail, Global water crisis requires collaboration and innovation, June 25, 2019
Princeton Alumni Weekly, In a Dry Country. A fine piece by Mark Bernstein with great photos from Steven Anderson. From the March 16, 2016 issue.
The Atlantic, The Earth’s Evaporating Aquifers: NASA satellites are tracking the planet’s underground fresh-water supply, from Robinson Meyer, June 17, 2105
Tufts Magazine, Not a Drop to Drink. Michael Blanding’s feature story for the Fall, 2015 issue.
The New Republic, California Has No Idea How Much Water It Has Left. NASA Can Help, interview at NASA JPL with Leighton Woodhouse, May 27, 2015
Good Magazine, How the “Al Gore of Water” is Turning Data into Action, Katie Wudel’s flattering story on our work. May 22, 2015.
The Late Late Show with James Corden. James devotes one of his first monologues to my March 12, 2015 LA Times op-ed. March 24, 2015.
OC Weekly: An Inconvenient Thirst. Matt Coker pulls out all the stops in this epic bio-piece with great links to my op-eds, blog posts, papers and videos. November 12, 2014.
Los Angeles Times: Patt Morrison Asks column, February 19, 2014. A fun Q&A with the renowned SoCal columnist and radio host. Plus a bunch of great photos from photographer Allen Schaben. Water Pistol.
Orange County Register: Pat Brennan’s feature on our research and mission, Earth’s potential next crisis: H2-uh-oh, April 24, 2013
The New York Times: A. O. Scott’s May 3, 2012 review of Last Call at the Oasis. When there really is not a drop to drink: ‘Last Call at the Oasis: A documentary about water supplies.
Princeton Alumni Weekly: Eric Hand’s piece from the April, 2012 issue. Sounding the alarm.
New Scientist: Chelsea Wald covers one of the most important themes of my talks, writing and research — that we don’t know how much water we have, especially groundwater. February 15, 2012. Uncharted waters: Probing aquifers to head off war.
The New York Times: Felicity Barringer’s feature story from the May 31, 2011 Science Times section. Groundwater depletion is detected from space.
Selected Television (more here)
Arizona PBS, ASU Research Touches on Groundwater Management, Arizona Horizon, January 2, 2024
CTV News, World Water Day 2022: ‘Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible.’ Interview with Caitrin Hodson, March 22, 2022
60 Minutes: Water, with Lesley Stahl. November 16, 2014, re-run on May 31, 2015 and updated on February 26, 2017.
H2O: The Molecule That Made Us, the 3-part water documentary series from Passion Pictures that premiered on Earth Day, April 22, 2020. I appeared in Episode 3, called Crisis, which orignially aired on May 6, 2020.
PBS News Weekend, Cape Town drought is a global harbinger says NASA scientist, interview with Hari Sreenivasan, March 31, 2018
Years of Living Dangerously, The Uprooted: Death of the Central Valley. Tom Casciato and John Pappas capture the urgency of the message of California’s chronic water scarcity in episode 3 of the second season of this game-changing series. What a pleasure to have met and talked water with Don Cheadle. November 9, 2016.
VICE, End of Water, Vikram Ganhdi’s wake up call on the global water crisis. March 4, 2016.
All in with Chris Hayes, live interview from the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, “California is Running Out of Water,” July 17, 2015
The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel does an excellent job setting up how we use gravity data to track groundwater storage changes in an interview following our groundwater depletion papers, “New research sounds alarm on global water supply,” June 17, 2015
PBS NewsHour, Judy Woodruff interview on our global groundwater depletion papers, “Is the world’s freshwater supply running out?” June 17, 2015.
Tavis Smiley, a fun, Earth Day interview on the California drought, April 22, 2015.
Real Time with Bill Maher. What a pleasure to be the mid-show interview guest. Lots of fun! ‘When in Drought,‘ March 27, 2015
60 Minutes, Water, Lesley Stahl reports on the California drought, groundwater depletion, and our work with the NASA GRACE mission, November 16, 2014
CNN/Fareed Zakaria GPS: The coming water wars, February 24, 2013
Newspaper
Los Angeles Times, California lawmakers reject proposal to curb well-drilling where nearby wells could run dry, more excellent coverage from Ian James, June 22, 2024
Washington Post, Arizona’s water troubles show how climate change is reshaping the West, by Joshua Partlow and colleagues, June 4, 2023
The New York Times, Parched California misses a chance to store more water, February 21, 2023
Denver Post, Can water managers find ways to lower demand on the Colorado River?, from Conrad Swanson, January 4, 2023
The Jerusalem Post, Water security expert: Middle East water shortages require regional action, September 23, 2019
New York Times Magazine, The Water Wars of Arizona, from Noah Gallagher Shannon, July 19, 2018
Washington Post, Humans are causing massive changes in the location of water around the world, NASA says, from Chris Mooney, May 16, 2018
Financial Times, NASA reveals dozens of areas in danger of running out of water: Human impact on supplies far greater than researchers anticipated, by Leslie Hook, May 16, 2018
Ian James story on our 2022 paper on the acceleration of groundwater depletion in California’s Central Valley
The Globe and Mail, ‘This is an eye-opener’: Changes in global water supply hint at future conflicts and crises, from G&M environmental journalist Ivan Semeniuk, May 16, 2018
New York Times, World’s Aquifers Losing Replenishment Race, Felicity Barringer follows up on her 2011 feature story, June 25, 2016.
Times of India, Water haves and have-nots will lead to social tension, Q and A with ToI reporter Namita Devidayal, April 30, 2016.
Washington Post, Earth’s groundwater reserves dwindling, Todd Frankel’s front-page coverage of our global groundwater stress work, June 17, 2015.
Orange County Register, Orange County’s 100 Most Influential, what an honor to be included on such an impressive list. Thanks to Aaron Orlowski for a great write-up. December 22, 2014
Financial Times, Drought drains critical US water supply, from Pilita Clark, July 24, 2014
The Guardian, Suzanne Goldenberg’s widely read story Why global water shortages pose threat of terror and war, February 8, 2014.
The Globe and Mail, Ivan Semeniuk’s timely story, Satellite data hinted at Alberta floods weeks ago, June 25, 2013.
The Jerusalem Post, Water crisis as much about management as nature, February 21, 2013.
Times of India, Middle East rapidly losing freshwater reserves, February 13, 2013.
Los Angeles Times, Margo Roosevelt’s coverage of our paper on increasing global riverflows. A rise in river flows causes alarm. October 5, 2010.
Magazines
Fortune, The Seine River, the romantic lifeblood of Paris, is set to reopen for swimming after 100 years. But its cursed clean-up is a lesson for future Olympics, by Prathana Prakash, July 5, 2024
Barron’s, U.S. Considers Imposing Cuts on Colorado River Water Use: What It Means, from Lauren Foster, April 13, 2023.
National Geographic, author Cynthia Barnett dials in on Europe’s emerging water scarcity issues, Europe’s Water Crisis is Much Worse Than We Thought, December 6, 2022
Barron’s, Lauren Foster’s take on How Water Scarcity Threatens the Global Economy, August 27, 2022
Science, Erik Stokstad covers California’s efforts to manage and replenish groundwater. Deep deficit, April 16, 2020
Forbes, NASA Satellites Show How Earth’s Water Supply Is Changing, from the great Dr. Marshall Shepard, June 5, 2018
National Geographic, Peter Miller visits the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and reports on new technologies for tracking water from above. To Take Earth’s Pulse, You Have to Fly High. October 15, 2015
Esquire, How the Earth dried up, from Charles R. Pierce, June 17, 2015
National Geographic story and video on satellite and airborne water and vegetation monitoring
The New Yorker, Where The Rivers Run Dry, from David Owens, May 18, 2015
The Atlantic, The Economics of California’s Drought, from Matt Schiavenza, March 21, 2015
Der Spiegel, Groundwater loss in the USA shocks researchers, by Markus Becker, July 25, 2014
Ensia, Cynthia Barnett (Blue Revolution) covers groundwater depletion in Groundwater Wake-Up, August 19, 2013
Nature, Katie Bourzac reports on Water: The Flow of Technology for the September 26, 2013 supplement on Agriculture and Drought
Smithsonian Magazine, Joshua Hammer asks “Is Lack of Water to Blame for the Conflict in Syria?” June, 2013
The Economist, The Tigris and Euphrates, Less Fertile Crescent, March 9, 2013
Sierra Magazine, Dashka Slater’s “Woe is Us” column. Running Dry. Nov/Dec, 2012
Pacific Standard, Michael Haederle’s fine story on GRACE. Texas, Tom and Jerry, and a Thirsty Planet. May 15, 2012
Radio
KJZZ, CA’s depleting groundwater in key agricultural region could be a warning sign for AZ, with Greg Hahne, January 23, 2023
NPR, All Things Considered, Expert says water scarcity is an emergency, August 30, 2022
Thom Hartmann, A crisis of water and power, August 21, 2021
CBC Radio, What on Earth, This year’s drought is a ‘creeping disaster’ that affects more than just farmers, July 16, 2021
PRI’s The World. Iran wasn’t ready for these huge floods. But they should get ready for more in the future. Shirin Jaafari, April 29, 2019
In the studio in Jerusalem recording the BBC World Service Science in Action interview, February, 2013. Photo by Judy Fladmark, BBC
NPR, Here & Now, California Drought Eases But It’s Far From Over, great conversation with H&N’s Jeremy Hobson on why the California drought is not yet over, May 5, 2016.
PRI’s Innovation Hub, Rethinking Water Use, a discussion about California’s chronic water scarcity and what it means for food production, February 12, 2016.
BBC World Service, Newshour, Interview with host Tim Franks on our global groundwater depletion papers,(starts at 38:00) June 17, 2015
KPCC SoCal Public Radio, Air Talk: Nestle Waters North America CEO Tim Brown and I debate the ethics of bottling and selling water in California during the drought. After I ask Tim whether Nestle has any plans to curtail bottling operations in California, he delivers his now infamous bombshell quote “Absolutely not. In fact, if I could increase it, I would.” May 13, 2015.
BBC, Radio 5 Live, Up All Night with Rod Sharp, interview with Peter Bowes on the California drought from Los Angeles, April 8, 2015 (starts at 1:14:51)
NPR, All Things Considered, Rain Eases California Drought Anxiety, If Not The Actual Drought, December 31, 2014
NPR, Morning Edition, Groundwater is drying up fast under western states, study finds, July 31, 2014
KPCC, SoCal Public Radio, Take Two, Groundwater loss in Colorado River basin threatens water security in west, July 2014, 2014
PRI’s Science Friday, As California Dries Up, Locals Hope for El Nino, July 18, 2014
KPCC, SoCal Public Radio. AirTalk, Should California regulate its groundwater? November 7, 2013
PRI’s The World, Climate, water and the Syrian civil war, September 27, 2013
BBC World Service, Science in Action: Satellite recording of groundwater depletion in Middle East, first broadcast February 28, 2013
KLOS, Spotlight on the Community, Interview with Cynthia Fox, one my favorite interviews, August 26, 2012
Blogs and Websites
Wine Industry Advisor, Running Dry: Groundwater Depletion Expert Says California Water Crisis Urgently Needs State Action, April 19, 2023
Bloomberg, Groundwater Gold Rush: California Water Crisis Fueled by Bank, Pension Fund Profits, scary report from the Bloomberg team, including Mark Chediak, and my Linkedin post in response. April 11, 2023
Water Technology, Why mitigating water risk makes sound business sense, with Jose Gallindo, September 6, 2022
World Economic Forum, Water shortages must be placed on the climate change agenda, with Jose Gallindo, August 24, 2022
Circle of Blue, Water is the new carbon, with J. Gallindo, P. Sanyal, and L. Xu, April, 2022
Years of Living Dangerously, Your move California, November 9, 2016
TakePart, Is Jay Famiglietti the Al Gore of the Global Groundwater Crisis? November 4, 2014
Mashable, Global groundwater crisis may get worse as the world warms , from Andrew Freedman, October 29, 2014
National Geographic, Water Currents, Sandra Postel reports on our Colorado River Basin paper, Groundwater Depletion in Colorado River Basin Poses Big Risk to Water Security, July 30, 2014
Circle of Blue: In Colorado River Basin, Groundwater is Disappearing Much Faster Than Lake Mead, another fine piece from Brett Walton, July 24, 2014
The New York Times, Dot Earth: Andy Revkin covers my Middle East National Geographic Water Currents piece. February 23, 2013. Satellite tracking of Middle East aquifers points to end of ‘data denial‘
National Geographic, Water Currents: Brian Howard reports on my July, 2012 drought testimony. “Drought is an Insidious and Patient Killer:” Water Currents’ Jay Famiglietti Testifies to Congress, July 26, 2012
Ecocentric Blog: Kyle Rabin’s “Avenging the Assault on Water: ‘Last Call at the Oasis’to the Rescue,“ May 21, 2012.
Film and video (more here)
DW Documentaries: Thirst Series. These sleeper videos have accumulated nearly 24 million views across the 3 parts and the 3 languages (English, Spanish, Arabic) on YouTube. Originally filmed in 2021 for the German public television network ARD by Daniel and Walter Harrich of diwafilm, we took an epic trip to all the hotspots along the Colorado River, from Lake Powell to Lake Mead, Las Vegas, Phoenix, the Imperial Irrigation District, and ending at the Salton Sea. Later that fall we did some filming in Saskatoon.
Day Zero, a great water documentary, streamed on Amazon Prime for the last several years. Filmed over 3 years, from 2018 to 2021. Filmed over a 3 year period, Day Zero won the Jackson Wild Media Award in the Ecosystem Long Form category in 2021. Available on Amazon Prime in Canada and the United States for the last several years. Watch some of my parts in the clip in this post.
Water and Power: A California Heist. What a great pleasure working with the Jigsaw Productions team on Water and Power, and on the related Nat Geo Channel series called Parched. Read the NY Times and LA Times reviews.
Heads Up! 2012 winner Richard Vilgen in front of the Thomson Reuters signs displaying his work rendering GRACE and USGS groundwater data.
Aspen Ideas Festival, Great panel in the ‘Planet on the Brink’ session called ‘Deep Dive: Drought.’ I was joined by colleagues David Kennedy, Noah Diffenbaugh, Buzz Thompson, Pat Mulroy, Bill Philmore and Pete McBride, June 30, 2015
The Nation, Is California’s Drought Part of a Global Water Crisis?, interview with Leighton Woodhouse, April 16, 2015
Last Call at the Oasis: Participant Media (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman, Food, Inc.) Academy Award Winning Director Jessica Yu and Academy Award Nominated Producer Elise Pearlstein did an amazing job with their water documentary Last Call at the Oasis. Here’s a clip that sets the tone for my contributions. You can view a few others on our old UCCHM YouTube channel.
Congressional and Parliamentary Testimony: I have had the good fortune to testify before the U. S. Congress and Canadian Parliament on several occasions. Most recently I presented to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on Groundwater in the United States on December 1, 2023. Here are links to my Congressional testimony on January 25, 2010 and on July 25, 2012; and to the text of my testimony to Canadian Parliament on March 10, 2020 and on February 6, 2024.
Heads Up! 2012 Times Square: This contest (which encourages scientific communication through graphic design) gave our satellite research data on groundwater depletion, and measurements from the USGS, to design professionals, who competed to create graphical displays for the Thomson Reuters and NASDAQ signs in Times Square. The winning entry (picture and NY Times blog post ), from Richard Vijgen, ran in the ad sequence for one month, starting on World Water Day, March 22, 2012.
UCI/NASA GRACE Animations: These were initially prepared with NASA JPL for Last Call at the Oasis, and were featured prominently throughout the film. These were recently updated for 60 Minutes. Check out the animations for India, the Middle East, and for California’s Central Valley.
Podcast Guest Appearances
Audacious Water with John Sabo, Groundwater, adaptation, and monitoring water from the sky, October 24, 2023
The Big Story, Will Your Kids Fight in the Water Wars, CBC, April 10, 2023
One Planet podcast, Interviewed by Mia Funk and Emily Mol, September, 2022
A Climate Change with Matt Matern, Jay Famiglietti Discusses Argiculture’s Role in California’s Water Crisis, September 12, 2022
AgWatchers, Day Zero for Water? June, 2, 2022
10X Podcast, The art of communicating our water crisis, interview with my friend and colleague ASU’s Duke Reiter, February 11,2022
The Compass, BBC World Service, Ecological Crises, Water: Too Much and Not Enough, April 11, 2021
The Edge of Energy, The Walrus, Closing the Loop on Ecosystem Conservation, July 8, 2021
The Root of the Matter, Will the U.S. Run out of Water, June 7, 2021
Raw Talk Podcast, Water: Access, Equity and Greater Impacts, December 12, 2020
Serving Up Science, an interview on The Future of Water Security on NPR’s weekly podcast from Michigan’s WKAR Public Media. Great discussion with long-time colleague Sheril Kirshenbaum and WKAR host Karel Vega, August 7, 2019
Freakonomics Radio Live, the live version of the popular podacst, recorded in San Francisco. Fun to talk water with host Stephen Dubner, co-host Angela Duckworth and fact-checker Mike Maughan. Episode 381, Long-Term Thinking in a Start-Up Town, May 16, 2019.
The Water Values Podcast with Dave McGimpsey. Groundwater Depletion and Water Conflict with Jay Famiglietti. Dave does a great job with set of concise questions that result in a focused interview. January 1, 2019.
Forecast with Michael White, Nature‘s climate science editor. Mike and I discuss several apsects of my career, including how I got into hydrological aspects of the GRACE mission, the challenges of doing interdisciplinary research, our work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the importance of science communication, and my move to the University of Saskatchewan. Jay Famiglietti on GRACE and Global Hydrology, April 18, 2018.
Freshwater Talk with Joe Whitworth, fun conversation after meeting Joe at the 2017 Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum, Jay Famiglietti, Senior Water Scientist for NASA, October 8, 2017.
Hound Tall with Moshe Kasher, Drought, July 8, 2016.
Planet Money, NPR, The Bottom of the Well, Episode #640. Stacey Vanek Smith explores the disincentives for almond farmers to curtail groundwater use. July 22, 2015
Probably Science, An hour-long conversation with comedians Andy Wood, Matt Kirshen and Jesse Case. Definitely worth the download!
Jay Famiglietti 