The western United States has built their water infrastructure on a melting foundation, and unless we do something about global warming, scientists worry the consequences will be catastrophic.
Storing water in reservoirs is important for maintaining freshwater ecosystem health and protecting native species. Stored water also is essential for adapting to the changing climate, especially warming and drought intensification. Yet, reservoir operators often treat environmental objectives as a constraint, rather than as a priority akin to water deliveries for cities and farms. Reservoir management becomes especially challenging during severe droughts when surface water supplies are scarce, and urban and agricultural demands conflict with water supplies needed to maintain healthy waterways and wetlands. In times of drought, most freshwater ecosystems suffer.
A proposed ballot measure would force the state to dedicate 2% of the general fund to building more water storage for California’s urban areas and farms. The Water Infrastructure Funding Act of 2022 would require the transfer of the funds into a trust account every year until the projects funded by the account have created an additional 5 million acre-feet of additional water supply that can be reliably delivered to Californians every year thereafter.
How much is access to water worth? In this episode, we aim to answer that question by looking at the Kern Water Bank, one of California’s largest underground water storage facilities. From above, it looks a lot like a giant puddle. But underneath it has the capacity to hold the equivalent of roughly 500 of New York City’s Central Park Reservoirs. And, as one expert says, it’s the “absolute jewel” of California water banking.
Congress approved a government funding bill last week that threw $80 million at the Sites Reservoir in California in order to keep the project on track.
The project is meant to hold 1.5 million acre-feet of water for the state to be used during droughts for agriculture, community usage and environmental need, said a press release issued Tuesday by the organization behind the Sites Reservoir.
With California’s extreme drought persisting and reservoirs declining to new lows, state officials said they will consider imposing mandatory water restrictions if dryness continues this winter. Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Californians in July to voluntarily reduce water use by 15%, saying state water regulators would track progress toward that target and decide whether additional measures would be necessary.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland talked about dealing with drought, including a reservoir planned near Patterson, in a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday.
She was joined by Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, who has urged increased federal spending on such efforts.
There is hope that the unfortunate conditions of California’s water supply this year will prompt decisive action on water management and storage. President and CEO of Western Growers, Dave Puglia noted that his conversations with growers have been disheartening. There is significant concern that if California gets another dry year, many farmers will not be able to recover. The dire circumstances of the current water year underscore the imperative need for an updated approach to water management.
In 2014, in the middle of a severe drought that would test California’s complex water storage system like never before, voters told the state to borrow $7.5 billion and use part of it to build projects to stockpile more water.
Seven years later, that drought has come and gone, replaced by an even hotter and drier one that is draining the state’s reservoirs at an alarming rate. But none of the more than half-dozen water storage projects scheduled to receive that money have been built.
State regulators will suspend water rights for diverters in the upper and lower Russian River in a desperate, unprecedented effort to preserve a minimal amount of storage in Lake Mendocino, which is falling by as much as 58 million gallons a day. The rapidly falling lake levels were on course to cross a threshold that would trigger curtailment orders in the upper river under emergency regulations approved in June. The drought conditions are so dire that staff at the State Water Resources Control Board decided issue emergency orders for the rest of the watershed at the same time.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
