We knew it was coming, but California officials now are talking openly about imposing statewide water restrictions if the state faces another unusually dry winter. Some local water districts, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, have started limiting water given that they are receiving a pittance of their usual allotments from the State Water Project.
The situation is severe and water districts have no choice but to limit water usage when they fall short. One need only look at the perilously low reservoirs. The state’s water shortages, however, don’t stem from inadequate conservation, but from inadequate preparation.
“We’re going to be watching very closely here in the coming couple few months how that voluntary water conservation goes,” said Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot in recent reports. Californians have reduced their water usage by 16% since the last drought ended four years ago, he noted, but “mandatory restrictions … need to be on the table.”
Californians continue to exceed the conservation targets set by the state, but no matter how much they save the state government continues to demand more savings. Yet 50% of the state’s water goes toward environmental uses — essentially flowing unimpeded into the Pacific Ocean.
Farms use another 40% of the water, with urban users — commercial and residential — accounting for the remaining 10%. Residences use only 5.7% of the state’s water, so likely restrictions on lawn watering and washing cars will not make an enormous dent in the problem.
Simply put, the state needs to be investing in water infrastructure and embracing a wide range of policies designed to boost the amount of available water rather than simply blaming climate change. Warming weather does indeed stress the state’s water supplies, but the key is building a more resilient system that can handle the additional stresses.
The latest California state budget earmarks $15 billion toward climate change, but only a small percentage of that money funds traditional infrastructure projects. The Newsom administration has not made sizable investments in water resilience in the years since the last drought ended. Water infrastructure takes time to build.
In the short term, the governor needs to streamline the regulatory process so that proposed desalination plants can come online as quickly as possible. Desalinated water is relatively costly, but costlier water is better than insufficient water. A similar plan in Carlsbad can meet 10% of San Diego County’s water needs.
The state needs to expand its water-storage capacities. It will rain again eventually — and it’s imperative that the state store more water in wet years so it has additional supplies in dry ones. Two major projects — Temperance Flat near Fresno and Sites Reservoir north of Sacramento — have been on the drawing boards for decades.
Orange County is a national leader in water recycling, yet the administration could do far more to encourage the construction of similar systems and to embrace other reforms. A new study from the Public Policy Institute of California explains that “a combination of aging infrastructure and complex, conflicting regulatory structures” is hindering the state’s ability to manage its groundwater resources.
California needs to take control of its water future rather than wait around for yet another drought and respond with another series of water restrictions.
