The recent rainfall has offered Mendocino County some respite
from the drought, bringing many communities out of a crisis
situation. But it’s still not clear for how long. Now
communities throughout the county are using this breathing room
to make their water systems more resilient to drought before
next summer. That includes re-establishing a standalone county
water agency.
While the U.S. Forest Service pours resources into a runaway
battle on wildfire, it is losing the
war over water. About half of Western
water supply originates on national forest
land. But before that water reaches the West’s
major cities or great rivers, much
of it has already been claimed. Thousands of
farmers, ranchers, cities, housing developments and
industrial users pump water from the ground, channel
it away from streams into ditches or pipelines, and hold it
back in ponds and reservoirs — all to use public
water, often for private purposes.
Water is the key to distilling—and distilling traditionally
uses a lot of water for fermentation, proofing, and especially
cooling. … Blinking Owl is in a rare position in
California. Orange County, where the distillery is located, has
one of the largest groundwater reclamation systems in
the world. This allows Blinking Owl to rely on its local
municipal system to provide a sustainable option. Friesen notes
that water conservation is a problem that’ll require both
municipal and industry solutions.
Don’t hold your breath for California’s drought ending with
this winter’s rains. Instead, you’d do well to hold your shower
time to a minimum. There’s less than a 40% chance of water
supplies getting back to normal after this winter, with a
slightly better than 50% chance that the state’s drought will
worsen, according to forecasters at a Monday, Nov. 22, drought
webinar hosted by the National Integrated Drought Information
Center.
When you see a constant stream of water heading into the sewer
drain stemming from a pipe leak, do you ever wonder how much of
it is wasted water? Chances are, the amount of water going down
the drain isn’t being tracked. At the same time, Californians
are being asked to conserve water during a severe
drought.
San Francisco’s robust water supply, long unruffled by the
severe dry spell now in its second year, has finally begun to
feel the pinch of drought, and city water managers are
recognizing it may be time to cut back. Officials at the San
Francisco Public Utilities Commission plan to ask city
residents and businesses to reduce water use by 5%, compared to
two years ago, and ask the more than two dozen communities that
buy water from the city to reduce water use nearly 14%….The
planned cutbacks are part of a water shortage emergency that
the SFPUC’s governing board is looking to declare at its
meeting Tuesday.
California is likely to emerge from the winter with little
relief from drought, federal climate experts said Thursday,
setting the stage for a third year of dry weather and
continuing water shortages. The monthly climate report from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that
drought conditions will persist in almost all of California
through February. With the next three months historically the
state’s wettest, the opportunity for drought recovery is
essentially lost.
Despite recent rain, California is still in the depths of a
drought. Conditions have improved, but barely. Most of the
state is still in exceptional or extreme drought. In the
South Bay, a million residents will soon be hit with the
toughest water restrictions of any major urban area in
California. Late Wednesday, the state PUC gave final
approval to San Jose Water Company’s plan. Approval
by state regulators means the call to cut water use is no
longer voluntary for South Bay residents.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the California Public Utilities
Commission gave final approval for San Jose Water Company to
put in place the first drought restrictions in its service area
since 2016, during California’s last major drought, and the
most stringent rules in any major city in California.
Californians are still lagging behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s
drought-emergency plea to use less water. Urban residents
reduced water consumption by just 3.9% in September, compared
with a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the
State Water Resources Control Board. The August figure was a
slightly better 5.1%. … The Sacramento area conservation
figures were worse than the statewide average: Residents used
2% less water in September compared with the year before,
according to the Sacramento Regional Water Authority.
Hailed as a complex and historic step, Sonoma County
supervisors on Tuesday unanimously endorsed plans to guide use
and governance of groundwater relied on by rural residents,
farmers and cities. The plans, required by a 2014 state law
crafted amid California’s past drought, will eventually include
well water use fees in three basins underlying the Santa Rosa
Plain and Sonoma and Petaluma valleys.
Two and a half years after signing a deal aimed at averting a
damaging crisis along the Colorado River, water officials from
California, Arizona and Nevada are discussing plans to take
even less water from the shrinking river and leave it in Lake
Mead in an effort to prevent the reservoir from falling to
dangerously low levels. … For California, the deal would mean
participating in water reductions prior to Lake Mead reaching
levels that would otherwise trigger mandatory cuts.
A severe drought prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom last
summer to ask the state’s nearly 40 million residents to
voluntarily reduce water use by 15% this year. New data
released Tuesday shows few people are doing that. Californians
reduced their water use by a measly 3.9% in September, down
from 5.1% in August. Overall, California has reduced its water
consumption by just 3.6% since July, when Newsom made the
request.
Six years ago, I traded a house with a big grassy yard for one
landscaped with gravel and cactuses. I’ve held on to the
memories of tea time on the lawn with my daughter and our
barefoot games of chase on the prickly turf, cool even on the
hottest days in Phoenix. Opinions to start the day, in your
inbox. Sign up. But whenever I feel nostalgic, I think about a
monthly water bill that could push $400. I also think about the
waste. Growing grass in the parched Southwest is an act of
defiance — against nature and common sense. -Written by Fernanda Santos, a Washington Post
contributing columnist and a journalism professor at
Arizona State University.
Despite pleas to conserve water during a historic drought,
Californians have not saved much at all this year. But there
are exceptions. We look at how Healdsburg dramatically cut its
water use.
As it works to encourage water conservation during California’s
drought, the Palmdale Water District is extending its
water-saving rebate program from residential to commercial
customers, as well. This is the first time the water provider
has offered the rebate program to its commercial and industrial
customers, according to a statement from the District. Seven
types of rebates are available for businesses within the
District.
As California’s drought continues and temperatures creep up
into the 90s in Northridge and Chatsworth, the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power is sponsoring two free workshops
in Northridge to help residents learn how to reduce their water
usage when landscaping. Two “Lawn Be Gone” workshops on
Saturday, Nov. 13, and Saturday, Nov. 20 will teach residents
how to remove turf without chemicals and install sustainable
landscaping, incorporate low water-use native California
plants, capture and recycle rainwater, install efficient drip
irrigation, mulch to make healthy soil, and more.
Homes of all sizes across Marin reflect investments incurred
over years to create and maintain yards that not only bring
homeowners great pleasure but, importantly, add property
value whether the property is small or large. If the Marin
Municipal Water District Board of Directors has its way, we are
alarmingly close to losing yards and greenery that are a core
part of the beauty of Marin. -Written by Rosy Rogers, of Larkspur, a writer and
editor who worked as a corporate marketing chief in the biotech
space.
States in the lower Colorado River basin are developing a $100
million plan that will leave more water in Lake Mead over the
next couple of years. The goal is to keep the lake from hitting
a critical level that would leave the reservoir more vulnerable
to rapid decline. … The negotiations between Nevada,
Arizona, California and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for
additional reductions in water use come just months
after the federal government declared Lake Mead’s
first water shortage.
Lake Mendocino, once a plentiful reservoir nourishing the vines
and villas of Sonoma and Mendocino counties, today is little
more than a large pond, cowering beneath the coastal hills.
… State officials warn that Lake Mendocino could be the
first major reservoir in modern times to go dry. While rain
over the past few weeks has lifted the lake above its October
low, the reservoir, a few miles northeast of Ukiah, remains at
less than 20% capacity. Officials worry that the looming wet
winter season won’t bring enough inflow to meet next year’s
water demands.
California Water Service (Cal Water) will hold a public meeting
at the Robert Livermore Community Center, Tuesday, Nov.
16, 6 p.m. to explain Stage 2 Water Shortage
restrictions, which includes limits on outdoor watering
and increased penalties for wasting water. If approved by
the California Public Utilities Commission, Cal Water’s Stage 2
restrictions would become effective Dec. 14. Under a Stage
2 water-shortage declaration, outdoor landscape irrigation is
limited to three days per week, and only between 6 p.m. and 9
a.m.
Southern California’s largest urban water district declared a
drought emergency on Tuesday and called for local water
suppliers to immediately cut the use of water from the State
Water Project. The resolution passed by the board of the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California calls on
people across the region to step up conservation efforts, but
also focuses especially on six water agencies that rely heavily
or entirely on the water-starved State Water Project.
If you replaced your grass and switched to a water-resistant
garden, then you can learn Tuesday night about how to take
advantage of savings. Join the West Basin Municipal Water
District at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for an interactive virtual
discussion with water efficiency experts who will answer your
questions about the district’s grass replacement rebate
application process.
Traditionally, washing just one pair of denim pants would
require about 22 gallons of water, but the green tech washing
machines at the Saitex USA factory in Vernon use less than
one-fifth of a gallon. General Manager David Chang says that’s
… equivalent to saving over 10 million gallons of water
per year. Saitex does this by using a recycled water filtration
system. While California is experiencing extreme drought with
its driest year in a century, Saitex has invested in a future
with less water.
Farmer Erik Herman said he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of
remorse as he looked out over the dirt field where an orchard
of 8,000 fig trees stood until earlier this month, when they
were uprooted by bulldozers in the name of conservation. The
orchard, seven miles outside Madera in the sprawling San
Joaquin Valley, is another casualty of the water shortage that
is forcing farmers in the nation’s top-producing agricultural
region to abandon otherwise fertile ground en masse.
Despite the pre-Halloween “atmospheric river” that dumped
nearly 8 trillion gallons of rain in Northern and Central
California, reservoirs feeding the Las Virgenes Municipal Water
District saw relatively little precipitation. Local communities
got less than 1 inch. As the state endures a second year
of a drought that’s brought below average snowpack, record high
temperatures and lower than expected runoff, the water district
has put a call out to its 75,000 customers telling them they’ll
have to do more with less.
A team of scientists, including experts from the University of
Adelaide, suggest that reliance on modern irrigation
technologies as a water-use efficiency strategy is a ‘zombie
idea’ — one that persists no matter how much evidence is
thrown against it. In a paper in Environmental Research
Letters, the international research team reviewed more than 200
supporting research articles and found technology adoption as a
water-saving method for improving irrigation efficiency is
ineffective, and can actually worsen water scarcity.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the
largest supplier of treated water in the country, is admitting
to FOX 11 that it wasted hundreds of thousands of gallons of
water or more. … At a time when MWD asked residents to
cut back, FOX 11 learned irrigation just at MWD headquarters
jumped by 854,216 gallons. To be clear, those aren’t massive
numbers, but it is enough to supply dozens of families with a
year’s worth of water.
The results are in: Californians aren’t saving enough water.
Amid a historic drought, Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked us to
reduce water consumption by 15 percent. Yet in August, the most
recent month for which data is available, we’d brought usage
down just 5 percent compared with the same time last year. Of
course, not all water-saving is the responsibility of
California households. Eighty percent of California’s water
goes toward agriculture, and other businesses play a big role
too.
In recent years, rising global temperatures and shifting
weather patterns have created water scarcity in many places. In
2020 and 2021, for example, California has experienced
record-breaking droughts and dry spells that have emptied river
beds and forced people to make some hard choices about water
usage. River’s End is a documentary that explores the root
causes of California’s water problems and the influence of the
agricultural industry in relation to them.
The City of Oceanside continues to be at the forefront of water
management in San Diego county with projects like WaterSmart
meters and Pure Water Oceanside that demonstrate the city’s
commitment to deliver clean, safe and affordable water. A
recent Voice of San Diego report showed Oceanside has among the
lowest water rate increases in the county with an average 13.7%
increase from 2017 to 2022. Compare that to the sizeable 38%
increase in water rates for Del Mar during the same 5 year time
period.
When the City of Sonoma required water customers to reduce
their use, residents got off to a slow start, with just a 3.8%
savings in July. But now, the city is catching up, with a 17.4%
savings recorded from July to September, not to mention the
wettest October in the last three years. … Which means
despite the torrential rainfall over the past weeks, water
users should resist the impulse to celebrate with a long hot
shower or an overdue car wash.
Even with the recent storm drenching Northern California, it’s
important that residents conserve water, experts said. The
storm — which included a ‘bomb cyclone’ — dropped more than
five inches of rain on the capital city in 24 hours. But it
won’t end the state’s drought. And next year could be dry, too.
… The California Department of Water Resources
recommends that residents calculate how much water they are
using at home using the U.S. Geological Survey calculator. They
said this serves as a starting point to indicate where you can
save water.
When Peter Gleick graduated from Yale in the late 1970s with an
engineering degree, he knew one thing: he didn’t want to be an
engineer. He was fascinated by big systems and big questions,
and drawn to the nascent field of environmental science.
… In the ‘80s, Gleick, in effect, created an applied
academic discipline—fresh water management—and built a place to
study it and offer solutions, the Pacific Institute [based
in Oakland].
Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended the drought emergency statewide
and called on all Californians to redouble their efforts to
conserve water. His call to action is critical even with the
storms that recently soaked California, because we know that a
lot more rain and snow will be needed to lift the state out of
the drought. The Governor’s approach to statewide conservation
is laudable, as well, because it continues to empower water
managers with matching local water supply conditions with
conservation, rather than relying on statewide mandates. -Written by Steve LaMar, President of the
Association of California Water Agencies; and Sean
Bigley, chair of the Regional Water Authority and
Assistant Environmental Utilities Director for the City of
Roseville.
In the seven years Simon Hammel has lived in his Burbank home,
he says he’s replaced at least 60% of the grass that used to be
there. It’s now primarily mulch, drought-tolerant plants and
fruit and veggie trees. Hammel is trying his best to do as much
as he can to conserve water and live eco-friendly. … In July,
Gov. Gavin Newsom asked all Californians to reduce their water
use by 15%. The city of Burbank implemented a Sustainable Water
Use Ordinance, limiting residents outdoor watering systems to
three days a week, for 15 minutes — not including hand
watering.
Wouldn’t you know it? Just like washing your car, almost the
moment I finished writing this article, the skies opened
up. I’d write one every day if it meant ending our water
woes. But it tells you everything you need to know about
California’s dire water situation – that the atmospheric river
that recently pummeled Northern California and other parts of
the state doesn’t even begin to make a dent in our drought. And
it highlights the urgency for California to create more water.
Much more. -Written by Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of
the Bay Area Council, a nonprofit public policy
organization.
Despite a wet week so far all signs are pointing to yet another
year of drought, and the governor is putting more effort behind
his water conservation agenda. … Bolstering conservation
efforts, the proclamation enables the State Water Resources
Control Board to ban wasteful water practices, including the
use of potable water for washing sidewalks and driveways. The
governor issued an executive order in July calling on
Californians to voluntarily reduce water use by 15% compared to
2020 to protect water reserves and complement local
conservation mandates.
Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) has reintroduced the
Securing Access for the Central Valley and Enhancing (SAVE)
Water Resources Act. The bill provides a wraparound approach to
addressing water issues facing the Central Valley by increasing
storage opportunities, spurring innovation, and making
“long-overdue investments in our aging water infrastructure,”
said the congressman.
Far from being rescued from drought by recent storms, the state
needs to prepare for a “new normal” of restricted water
supplies, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot
said Tuesday, Oct. 26. To do that, Crowfoot said
California must accelerate conservation efforts to deal with
current drought conditions and continue to build on long-term
water-management strategies, such as the $5.2 billion Water and
Drought Resilience Package announced in September by
Gov. Gavin Newsom. Crowfoot made his case to the executive
committee of the Metropolitan Water District …
Most Marin County residents will be prohibited from turning on
their sprinklers and drip irrigation systems under new drought
restrictions starting in December. The Marin Municipal Water
District board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt an ordinance
that bans residents from using outdoor irrigation systems
including overhead sprinklers and drip irrigation from Dec. 1
through May 31. Hand spot watering using a hose and spray
nozzle or a watering can is still allowed.
Local customers of California Water Service may soon face
enforcement actions against their use of outdoor irrigation if
state regulators give the company permission to advance to the
next phase of its water shortage contingency plan.
… Approval of Cal Water’s request would double fines for
customers watering outdoor landscapes more than two days per
week outside the hours of 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., unless local
ordinances say otherwise.
[T]he extreme water scarcity plaguing [Mount Shasta Vista, in]
… far Northern California was not the result of
dwindling snowpack or plummeting reservoir levels. Instead, it
was due to a concerted government effort to “choke out” a
problem that had vexed Siskiyou County officials for years: the
illicit, large-scale cultivation of marijuana in a single
subdivision that is largely Asian. In the spring of this year,
county supervisors effectively outlawed the transportation of
water into a rural tract that had become known for its prolific
cultivation of pot, squalid living conditions and large
population of Hmong farmers.
Something terrible is about to happen in Los Angeles: We’ll
soon get rain, a lot of it (by our semi-arid standards) and all
at once. … The relief will largely accrue to our
drought-stricken psyches, not the actual drought. If there’s
anything I’ve learned from seemingly one record dry season
after another these decades, it’s that we semi-desert dwellers
find any excuse to think things just might be fine after a good
one-off soaking or a decent dusting of snow on the San Gabriel
high peaks … –Written by Paul Thornton, the Los Angeles Times’ letters
editor.
Cutting water use became a bit of a competition for retiree
John Diniakos and his wife Merrilyn Joyce after the city
mandated a 40% water restriction back in June.
… Diniakos and Joyce live in Healdsburg, in Sonoma
County. … Just like the rest of the state, Healdsburg is
gripped by drought. But the city is conserving at a much higher
rate than California overall. Healdsburg nearly cut its water
use in half in August, compared to the same time last year.
Californians overall saved just 5% …
Mandatory water cutbacks sure seem inevitable, even imminent,
in California, by the numbers, by the images of emptying
reservoirs, by the arc of history. California just had
its hottest summer on record, tying the 1936 Dust Bowl
summer with average temperatures 2.6 degrees above normal.
California also just had its second driest water year on
record and worst since 1924, with just 11.87 inches of
rain and snow statewide, about half the average.
Anchor Brewing is San Francisco’s oldest operating brewery,
producing its flagship steam beer since 1896. Now it’s making
history in a new way. The brewery will soon operate the city’s
largest commercial water reuse facility. Instead of dumping out
water after rinsing fermentation tanks and cleaning bottling
lines, Anchor will collect, treat and recycle much of what used
to go down the drain.
Four states in the drought-wracked West considering whether to
pay farmers to cut their water use see federal infrastructure
legislation as a possible revenue source. The $550 billion
bipartisan legislation approved in the Senate includes $25
million for the four states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and
Wyoming…. Paying people to cut water use is an option under a
2019 drought contingency plan the four upper division states
signed with three states in the Lower Colorado River Basin —
Arizona, California and Nevada.
A moisture-rich atmospheric river is forecast to hit California
on Sunday and Monday, delivering a much needed drenching of
rain to a drought-plagued state at a time of year when big
storms are unusual…. We checked in with Marty Ralph, the
director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes
with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San
Diego…”When we’re in a drought and we get a good atmospheric
river, it can break the drought. It might be what’s sort of
happening right now. At least, we’re hopeful that if this isn’t
the only one we get this year, it’s the start of a wetter
winter….”
The Marin Municipal Water District has allocated up to $23.2
million to buy equipment for a proposed emergency supply
pipeline across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The investment,
approved by the district board on Tuesday, is the largest the
agency has made since proposing the idea earlier this year. The
8-mile pipeline, estimated to cost up to $90 million, is the
district’s main backup plan should it deplete its main
reservoir supplies next summer in the event of another dry
winter.
Nestled in the hills north of San Francisco lies a tiny
microclimate where farmers grow apples with no irrigation at
all. The multi-year drought that besets California? Not here.
Sunburn? Not typically a problem. Those uber heat waves that
baked the West Coast this summer? They skipped western Sonoma
County.
Gov. Gavin Newsom today declared a drought emergency for the
entire state of California, as conservation efforts continue to
fall far short of state targets. Newsom also authorized
California’s water regulators to ban wasteful water use, such
as spraying down public sidewalks, and directed his Office of
Emergency Services to fund drinking water as needed. But he
stopped short of issuing any statewide conservation mandates.
In many parts of California, reminders abound that the American
West is running out of water. “Bathtub rings” mark the
shrinking of the state’s biggest reservoirs to some of their
lowest recorded levels. Fields lie fallow, as farmers grapple
with an uncertain future. A bed-and-breakfast owner spends $5
whenever a tourist showers. But not in San Diego County. In
this coastal desert metropolis, life has stayed mostly the same
for residents already accustomed to conserving what they have
long treated as a precious resource.
Las Vegas, known for its searing summertime heat and glitzy casino fountains, is projected to get even hotter in the coming years as climate change intensifies. As temperatures rise, possibly as much as 10 degrees by end of the century, according to some models, water demand for the desert community is expected to spike. That is not good news in a fast-growing region that depends largely on a limited supply of water from an already drought-stressed Colorado River.
When you oversee the largest
supplier of treated water in the United States, you tend to think
big.
Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California for the last 15 years, has
focused on diversifying his agency’s water supply and building
security through investment. That means looking beyond MWD’s
borders to ensure the reliable delivery of water to two-thirds of
California’s population.
Californians have been doing an
exceptional job
reducing their indoor water use, helping the state survive
the most recent drought when water districts were required to
meet conservation targets. With more droughts inevitable,
Californians are likely to face even greater calls to save water
in the future.
Even as stakeholders in the Colorado River Basin celebrate the recent completion of an unprecedented drought plan intended to stave off a crashing Lake Mead, there is little time to rest. An even larger hurdle lies ahead as they prepare to hammer out the next set of rules that could vastly reshape the river’s future.
Set to expire in 2026, the current guidelines for water deliveries and shortage sharing, launched in 2007 amid a multiyear drought, were designed to prevent disputes that could provoke conflict.
One of California Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade
Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within
weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that
Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.
That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach”
on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded
floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.
Groundwater helped make Kern County
the king of California agricultural production, with a $7 billion
annual array of crops that help feed the nation. That success has
come at a price, however. Decades of unchecked groundwater
pumping in the county and elsewhere across the state have left
some aquifers severely depleted. Now, the county’s water managers
have less than a year left to devise a plan that manages and
protects groundwater for the long term, yet ensures that Kern
County’s economy can continue to thrive, even with less water.
Although Santa Monica may be the most aggressive Southern California water provider to wean itself from imported supplies, it is hardly the only one looking to remake its water portfolio.
In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million people, efforts are underway to dramatically slash purchases of imported water while boosting the amount from recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup and conservation. Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 announced a plan to reduce the city’s purchase of imported water from Metropolitan Water District by one-half by 2025 and to provide one-half of the city’s supply from local sources by 2035. (The city considers its Eastern Sierra supplies as imported water.)
Imported water from the Sierra
Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as
drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those
supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped
up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on
imported water.
Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of
Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually
water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s,
Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it
derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.
In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
People in California and the
Southwest are getting stingier with water, a story that’s told by
the acre-foot.
For years, water use has generally been described in terms of
acre-foot per a certain number of households, keying off the
image of an acre-foot as a football field a foot deep in water.
The long-time rule of thumb: One acre-foot of water would supply
the indoor and outdoor needs of two typical urban households for
a year.
Amy Haas recently became the first non-engineer and the first woman to serve as executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission in its 70-year history, putting her smack in the center of a host of daunting challenges facing the Upper Colorado River Basin.
Yet those challenges will be quite familiar to Haas, an attorney who for the past year has served as deputy director and general counsel of the commission. (She replaced longtime Executive Director Don Ostler). She has a long history of working within interstate Colorado River governance, including representing New Mexico as its Upper Colorado River commissioner and playing a central role in the negotiation of the recently signed U.S.-Mexico agreement known as Minute 323.
Nowhere is the domino effect in
Western water policy played out more than on the Colorado River,
and specifically when it involves the Lower Basin states of
California, Nevada and Arizona. We are seeing that play out now
as the three states strive to forge a Drought Contingency Plan.
Yet that plan can’t be finalized until Arizona finds a unifying
voice between its major water players, an effort you can read
more about in the latest in-depth article of Western Water.
Even then, there are some issues to resolve just within
California.
It’s high-stakes time in Arizona. The state that depends on the
Colorado River to help supply its cities and farms — and is
first in line to absorb a shortage — is seeking a unified plan
for water supply management to join its Lower Basin neighbors,
California and Nevada, in a coordinated plan to preserve water
levels in Lake Mead before
they run too low.
If the lake’s elevation falls below 1,075 feet above sea level,
the secretary of the Interior would declare a shortage and
Arizona’s deliveries of Colorado River water would be reduced by
320,000 acre-feet. Arizona says that’s enough to serve about 1
million households in one year.
As California embarks on its unprecedented mission to harness groundwater pumping, the Arizona desert may provide one guide that local managers can look to as they seek to arrest years of overdraft.
Groundwater is stressed by a demand that often outpaces natural and artificial recharge. In California, awareness of groundwater’s importance resulted in the landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 that aims to have the most severely depleted basins in a state of balance in about 20 years.
California voters may experience a sense of déjà vu this year when they are asked twice in the same year to consider water bonds — one in June, the other headed to the November ballot.
Both tackle a variety of water issues, from helping disadvantaged communities get clean drinking water to making flood management improvements. But they avoid more controversial proposals, such as new surface storage, and they propose to do some very different things to appeal to different constituencies.
For decades, no matter the weather, the message has been preached
to Californians: use water wisely, especially outdoors, which
accounts for most urban water use.
Enforcement of that message filters to the local level, where
water agencies routinely target the notorious “gutter flooder”
with gentle reminders and, if necessary, financial penalties.
The message is oft-repeated that
water must be conserved and used as wisely as possible.
The California Water Code calls water use efficiency “the
efficient management of water resources for beneficial uses,
preventing waste, or accomplishing additional benefits with the
same amount of water.”
From the Greek “xeros” and Middle Dutch “scap,”
xeriscape was coined
in 1978 and literally translates to “dry scene.”
Xeriscaping, by extension, is making an environment which can
tolerate dryness. This involves installing drought-resistant and
slow-growing plants to reduce water use.
Irrigation is the artificial supply
of water to grow crops or plants. Obtained from either surface or groundwater, it optimizes
agricultural production when the amount of rain and where it
falls is insufficient. Different irrigation
systems are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but in
practical use are often combined. Much of the agriculture in
California and the West relies on irrigation.
This card includes information about the Colorado River, who uses
the river, how the river’s water is divided and other pertinent
facts about this vital resource for the Southwest. Beautifully
illustrated with color photographs.
For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and
California border has faced complex water management disputes. As
relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary
narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range
from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp,
farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists
– all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water.
After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon
settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise
of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the
documentary here.
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the
faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close
to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their
water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and
testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from,
how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality
are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress
Wendie Malick.
A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water:
Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems
and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36
inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and
its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and
Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin.
Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the
Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and
wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin
Area Office.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the
water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the
environment. It features natural and manmade water resources
throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers,
Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River
that forms the state’s eastern boundary.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
Water conservation has become a way of life throughout the West
with a growing recognition that the supply of water is not
unlimited.
Drought is the most common motivator of increased water
conservation but the gradual drying of the West as a result of
climate change means the amount of fresh water available for
drinking, irrigation, industry and other uses must be used as
efficiently as possible.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study and what its
finding might mean for the future of the lifeblood of the
Southwest.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
agricultural water use – its successes, the planned state
regulation to quantify its efficiency and the potential for
greater savings.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
financing of water infrastructure, both at the local level and
from the statewide perspective, and some of the factors that
influence how people receive their water, the price they pay for
it and how much they might have to pay in the future.
This printed copy of Western Water examines California’s drought
– its impact on water users in the urban and agricultural sector
and the steps being taken to prepare for another dry year should
it arrive.
Perhaps no other issue has rocketed to prominence in such a short
time as climate change. A decade ago, discussion about greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions and the connection to warming temperatures
was but a fraction of the attention now given to the issue. From
the United Nations to local communities, people are talking about
climate change – its characteristics and what steps need to be
taken to mitigate and adapt to the anticipated impacts.
This issue of Western Water examines the continuing practice of
smart water use in the urban sector and its many facets, from
improved consumer appliances to improved agency planning to the
improvements in water recycling and desalination. Many in the
water community say conserving water is not merely a response to
drought conditions, but a permanent ethic in an era in which
every drop of water is a valuable commodity not to be wasted.
Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999
in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we
are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional
water development of the past has given way to a more
collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment
while stretching available water supplies.
This issue updates progress on crafting and implementing
California’s 4.4 plan to reduce its use of Colorado River water
by 800,000 acre-feet. The state has used as much as 5.2 million
acre-feet of Colorado River water annually, but under pressure
from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the other six states
that share this resource, California’s Colorado River parties
have been trying to close the gap between demand and supply.
