Blog: Follow the water!
People often have strange ideas about how water works. Even simple water systems can be confusing. When water systems become large complex socio-physical-ecological systems serving many users and uses, opportunities for confusion become extreme, surpassing comprehension by our ancient Homo sapien brains. When confused by conflicting rhetoric, using numbers to “follow the water” can be helpful. The California Water Plan has developed some such numbers. This essay presents their net water use numbers for 2018, by California’s agricultural, urban, and environmental uses by hydrologic region.