It may feel like California is flush with water at the moment, after a winter of historic storms that replenished drought-starved lakes and left the Sierra Nevada snowpack at the deepest it’s been in 28 years. But follow the Colorado River, which supplies 15% of California’s water, back to bottomed-out reservoirs like Nevada’s Lake Mead, and it becomes clear the future of water in the Golden State is still very much in flux.
Lake Oroville, a key component of California’s water supply, looks noticeably fuller after a series of January storms.
The atmospheric rivers dumped trillions of gallons of moisture on the state, spurring widespread flooding and destruction but also providing a healthy boost to snowpack and drought-sapped reservoirs.
It may not be the most pleasant thought, but the wastewater that flows through the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility in Agoura Hills could one day come out of your faucet.
“We’re taking the water that we would normally discharge into Malibu Creek and we’re going to create a local drinking supply out of this,” said Michael McNutt with the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.
Deep underneath the sodden soils and the berms of snow that now coat California, fuels for fire are waiting to sprout. Grasses and other quick-growing vegetation, spurred by the downpours that saturated the state at the start of the year, quickly turn to kindling as the weather warms.
“When that rain comes – and it came last month – that results in significant fuel load increases,” said Isaac Sanchez, a CalFire battalion chief.
Forty percent or more of all water use in western US cities goes to outdoor watering of lawns, gardens, pools, and golf courses. One of the most effective urban water conservation strategies is to reduce the area of irrigated landscaping, or switching to less water-intensive vegetation.
My research group spent three years collecting water data and other information from 28 water utilities that serve a total of 23 million people in the American Southwest. The task wasn’t easy: 39 researchers were involved in collecting data from 45 different utility employees. Each of these utilities we surveyed is dependent on the Colorado River for some portion or all of their water supplies.
Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley may be able to blunt a sharp decline in the years ahead if policymakers and the industry can come together on a series of strategies for reducing demand for irrigation while also increasing water supply, according to a new assessment from a prominent policy organization.
The report this month from the Public Policy Institute of California examined the biggest challenge confronting the state’s ag industry then recommended softening the impact by loosening water-trading rules, incentivizing farmland reuse and investing in storage, including groundwater recharge.
The first week of February brought only modest amounts of rain and snow but despite that, California’s snowpack and many of the state’s largest reservoirs are in good shape.
According to data tracked by California’s Department of Water Resources, the statewide snowpack is at 135% of the average peak. Typically the snowpack peaks in late March to early April.
In November 2022 the Sweetwater Authority initiated a controlled transfer of water between the Loveland Reservoir to the Sweetwater Reservoir where water is treated and distributed to Authority customers in National City, Chula Vista and Bonita. The Loveland Reservoir, owned and operated by the water utility, was built in 1945 pooling water from the Sweetwater River. It has been a destination for fishing, birdwatching, and hiking. After a second water transfer in January between the two reservoirs and substantial storms which caused damage to the HUD-funded fishing pier and erosion damage to the trails, Loveland is now closed to the public for all recreational usage for an indefinite period of time.
Sweetwater Authority General Manager Carlos Quintero said, bottom line, with both water transfers there is not enough water to fish. He said Loveland has always been a water supply reservoir.
“Our mission is to provide water to the Sweetwater customers,” he said. “We use both of our reservoirs. They work in conjunction. Sweetwater is in Spring Valley and that is where we have our treatment plant. When conditions are optimal, when we are outside the arroyo toad breeding season, that is when we can transfer water from one reservoir to another. It is a 17-mile trek for every drop of water, and we try to find the optimal conditions to minimize our losses.”
