Digital Western Water Magazine February 19, 2015 For Board membersFor Western Water Subscriber - ComplimentariesFor Western Water Subscriber - Major ContributorsFor Western Water Subscribers

Is California’s Water Supply Resilient and Sustainable?

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has set a goal of reducing its amount of purchased water by 50 percent by 2025. A major component of LADWP’s program includes capturing stormwater runoff and using this water to recharge its groundwater aquifers.

A 2011 report prepared for the Northern California Water Association called “Efficient Water Management for Regional Sustainability in the Sacramento Valley” found that sustainability “is generally viewed as having three interrelated aspects,” economic or financial considerations, environmental protection and stewardship and society/community and individual human well-being.

Dust storms at the dry Owens Lake have been reduced under a re-watering program.

California’s most recent drought has reinforced the volatility that surrounds its water supply outlook from year to year. It also highlights what sustainability and resiliency mean to a state with a growing population and water needs that stretch from bustling cities in the north and south to the rich agricultural fields of the Central, Imperial and Coachella valleys and Central Coast.

Sustainability and resiliency may seem like abstract, academic-themed notions. But they have existed as long as water development began on a large scale for people and crops. More recently, they’ve become the latest buzzwords in planning documents and even legislation as water purveyors, government officials, planners and others try to develop a vision for the future of water in California.