California needs better water supply reliability – including improved conveyance systems

As California confronts another extended drought and its impacts, it is more obvious than ever that the state has failed to address its water supply and management challenges for far too long.

The immediate fallout of the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in is frightening: local residents with wells running dry; urban water rationing and critical shortages; massive fallowing of some of the nation’s most productive agricultural land and the resulting impacts on food prices; and significant uncertainty about our ability to adapt to the future. The long-term effects are even more dire.

The viability of California’s $3.4 trillion economy is at stake. Consequences to the state’s agricultural enterprise have already begun to show, with rural communities experiencing $1.2 billion in direct losses and hundreds of thousands of acres fallowed in 2021, and more expected in 2022.

Our arrival at this alarming place is rooted in history. The supply and delivery system for 32 million people, more than 2 million acres of farmland, and businesses across the state is faltering for numerous reasons.

Despite tens of billions of dollars in voter-approved water resource bonds over the last 25 years, Californians have been unable to build any significant storage or conveyance facilities due to permitting delays and bureaucracy. History shows we can do better – the 1950s-1960s construction of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) are evidence of California’s ingenuity and foresight. Sadly, we failed to build upon that legacy.

In August, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled strategies to address the water crisis. He called for legislation to streamline permitting for ocean desalination, brackish groundwater treatment and stormwater capture – the types of projects water suppliers have been doing, or attempting to do, for decades.

Climate modeling predicts a future with fewer but more intense years of significant rain, interspersed by dry periods. Our water system, once the envy of the country, has been stretched to its limits and must adapt to this changing future. However, with this challenge comes opportunity – we can match the vision of prior generations and restore the reliability of our water system to deliver a fundamental human right – the right to water.

California needs to build projects now, with the same urgency state leaders demonstrated in quickly rebuilding freeways after the 1994 Northridge earthquake and repairing Oroville Dam after it was damaged by heavy rains in 2017. The state needs to rapidly implement an all-of-the-above approach to water supply reliability – which must include improved conveyance systems and more water storage.

Enhanced conveyance will enable us to move water rapidly during the years it’s available to store for periods when Mother Nature is less generous. There are multiple solutions to this challenge, including restoring the capacity of existing infrastructure that has been damaged, like the San Luis Canal, the California Aqueduct and the Delta-Mendota Canal, as well as constructing new and improved projects like the Delta Conveyance Project. Each project would eliminate millions of gallons of water loss, protect thousands of acres of habitat, increase flows to communities south of the Delta during wet years and allow for additional groundwater basin storage.

Increased water storage is a critical tool to a more resilient water future for all Californians. Storage systems like Sites Reservoir and expanding existing reservoirs like San Luis Reservoir and Los Vaqueros Reservoir have been on the drawing board for too long. These improvements, which have all been decades in development, will capture enough water from extreme rainy seasons to supply over 3.8 million households for a year. There is no question that these projects, if constructed, would help to mitigate the impacts during the difficult drought we are currently experiencing.

Now is the time for the state to eliminate environmental logjams and bureaucratic red tape to start building these projects and solve its water supply crisis. Planning is not enough, nor is the timeworn advice to the public to just conserve. Conservation is not enough to solve this problem.

California has built major water supply infrastructure before. We can do it again. But it takes bold, immediate action from our political leaders. We challenge you to bring these projects to fruition, today.

Tom Coleman has served as General Manager at Rowland Water District in Rowland Heights, Calif., since 2014. He can be reached attcoleman@rwd.org. Federico Barajas is Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority in Los Baños, Calif. He can be reached atfederico.barajas@sldmwa.org.

Editor’s note: Nine other water district managers have endorsed this piece. They are: Erik Hitchman of the Walnut Valley Water District; Matt Litchfield of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District; Darin Kasamoto of the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District; Dennis LaMoreaux of the Palmdale Water District; Mauricio Guardado of the United Water Conservation District; Thomas W. Birmingham of the Westlands Water District; Jim Prior of the San Gabriel County Water District; Chris White of the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority; Lisa Yamashita-Lopez of the Rubio Cañon Land and Water Association.