You are now in California and the U.S. category.

Between droughts and floods, the last decade has offered water managers in the southwest a preview of how climate change could impact a supply largely dependent on winter snow. This year’s disappointing snowpack has them worried again. “Water and climate change are joined at the hip,” said Brad Udall, a researcher at Colorado State University who published a paper earlier this year showing how climate change has reduced flows in the Colorado River. “One of the primary impacts of a warming atmosphere are changes to our water cycle.”

The biggest storm so far this winter is headed for the Sierra Nevada, with up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow possible in the mountains by early Friday and winds potentially gusting in excess of 100 mph (161 kph) over the ridgetops. On Wednesday, the National Weather Service upgraded a winter storm watch to a winter storm warning in effect from 4 p.m. Thursday to 4 p.m. Friday for the greater Lake Tahoe area stretching north of Reno to Susanville, California.

In an age when freshwater supplies are under pressure from a growing human population, the alchemic act of turning seawater into drinking water is enormously appealing. Scientists at an East Bay laboratory, meanwhile, are also trying to address water shortages, but to do so, they’re delving into uncharted realms of science and technology. Like Brown’s clunky tunnels, the scientists’ lab-scale project involves passing water through expensive tubes—but the water conveyance tunnels being assessed by researcher Aleksandr Noy and his colleagues are barely one atom wide.

In this episode of “Deeply Talks,” Tara Lohan, managing editor of Water Deeply, and a panel of experts discuss the water issues to keep an eye on in 2018. Tara is joined by Jeffrey Mount, senior fellow with the Public Policy Institute of California, and Kimery Wiltshire, CEO and director of Carpe Diem West.