Projections of future water supplies and demand reveal a shortage of billions of gallons by 2040, a shortage that Orange County water managers say must be filled in the coming years.

 

More water is needed – or at least more money needs to be spent curtailing increases in demand.

 

To help figure out how to fill that shortfall, the Municipal Water District of Orange County is preparing a study that predicts how much water Mother Nature will supply in the coming decades and offers methods for determining which water supply projects – desalination plants, recycling facilities, water storage and many others – the county can build to bank and even supplement nature’s gifts.