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We are a thirsty nation. We consume nearly 1,500 gallons of water each day, with three-quarters of it going to supply industry and to create energy, as well as for food and fiber to feed the masses. The rest goes to homes and businesses. 

These practices are unsustainable in the long term, but in water-short California they’re already coming to a head. After several years of drought with little relief, the state and its electricity providers want to make sure there is enough water to keep industry humming, and to serve the agricultural industry. Possible?

Trees are dying at a staggering rate in some parts of the west. Nearly 30 million trees are dead or dying in California, according to U.S. Forest Service officials.

In the Lake Tahoe Basin, the mortality rates sits at upwards of 40 thousand, according to a 2015 report. And that number is expected to rise this year. “It’s increasing over the last few years because of the drought,” said Rita Mastutia, forester/silviculturist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Despite hopes for a drenching from El Niño, California farmers are facing another drought year in 2016.  Even after four years of the worst drought on record, California farm output was a record $54 billion in 2015, accounting for more than half of the nation’s fresh produce. Groundwater has helped compensate for California’s lack of rainfall, but groundwater overdraft cannot be continued indefinitely. California farmers have responded to the drought by fallowing land; switching to crops that yield higher value per unit of water; and switching irrigation technologies.

With months of contentious hearings ahead this summer, state and federal officials this week filed documents laying out their case that construction of two huge tunnels through the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would not harm north state water users.

In late July, the State Water Resources Control Board will begin a series of hearings to determine whether work can begin on the $15.5 billion tunnels project championed by Gov. Jerry Brown.