Droughtsville, California, is in trouble.
Its water supply is endangered as multiple crises intensify: worsening droughts, competition for scarce supplies, sea level rise, groundwater contamination, earthquakes, wildfires and extreme weather. All of these factors, and more, threaten Droughtville’s ability to provide clean water to its residents.
The city is fictional, but the threats are not.
In the San Joaquin Valley, water is becoming a commodity equal to life and death.
California is a powerhouse of food production, growing some 40 percent of the country’s fruit, vegetables and nuts. However, the agriculture industry depends on a water supply that’s increasingly fragile and unreliable as the climate warms. As a means to increase access to livable drinking water, community and elected leaders alike are rallying behind “Building More Dams.” But this is simply not a viable solution.
Work is progressing toward completion on the first of two pipeline replacement projects in Encinitas by Olivenhain Municipal Water District.
Replacement of an existing drinking water pipeline is wrapping up at Rancho Santa Fe Road and Encinitas Boulevard, with completion expected in early 2022. The original pipeline was installed in 1961 and was approaching the end of its lifespan. Proactively replacing aging water pipelines prevents leaks and avoids emergency shutdowns.
Vicki McDowell woke up on a Saturday morning in May, thinking about what she would make her son for breakfast. He was visiting from Hayward, and she wanted to whip up something special. Biscuits and gravy. Fried potatoes. Eggs.
She walked to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. Turned on the faucet. Nothing happened. Worried, she tried the bathroom sink. Still nothing. She flushed the toilet. It gurgled.
In the verdant San Joaquin Valley, one of the nation’s most productive farming regions, domestic wells like McDowell’s are drying up at an alarming pace as a frenzy of new well construction and heavy agricultural pumping sends the underground water supply to new lows during one of the most severe droughts on record.
California is in the grip of its fourth drought since 2000. To cope with worsening droughts, over the past few decades Californians have made impressive gains in water efficiency. Total water diversions in California for agriculture and cities – roughly 30 million acre feet per year for agriculture and 8 million acre feet per year for cities – have not increased even while California’s population has grown and irrigated farm acreage has increased. But conservation alone cannot guarantee Californians have an adequate supply of water.
The San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have reached an agreement that will provide water to parts of Southern California facing extraordinary supply constraints due to cutbacks on the State Water Project.
Under a deal approved today by Metropolitan’s Board of Directors and previously authorized by the San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors, Metropolitan will secure additional groundwater in 2022 from the Semitropic Water Bank in Kern County. Metropolitan can use that water to serve areas in the northwest and northeast parts of its service area that aren’t connected to its Colorado River supplies and are heavily reliant on limited State Water Project supplies.
“Metropolitan is committed to doing everything we can to bring more water to communities in our service area that are particularly challenged by the drought. We’re thrilled to have the Water Authority partner with us in this effort, supporting the well-being of all Southern California,” said Metropolitan board chairwoman Gloria D. Gray. “We’re all in this together. And we all need to do our part, including using water as efficiently as possible.”
Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher expressed a similar perspective. “We thank Metropolitan Board Chair Gloria Gray and General Manager Adel Hagekhalil for partnering with us in a way that benefits all of Southern California,” Croucher said. “We expect that this will be the first of many innovative and collaborative solutions with Metropolitan to sustain our collective economy and quality of life.”
Under terms of the agreement, Metropolitan will purchase 4,200 acre-feet of the Water Authority’s reserves in the Semitropic Original Water Bank in 2022 for $893 per acre foot. Metropolitan also will lease an additional 5,000 acre-feet of “take capacity” from the Water Authority’s water bank account.
Take capacity – a function of groundwater pumping and distribution system size – gives Metropolitan the ability to withdraw more of its own groundwater stored in the Semitropic Water Bank. An acre-foot is 326,000 gallons, enough to serve about three typical Southern California homes for a year.
In 2008, the Water Authority secured supplies in the Semitropic Water Bank for the San Diego region in preparation for drought. Due to other supply and storage investments and sustained water conservation in San Diego County, the Water Authority does not need to tap its Semitropic account to meet the region’s projected water demands in 2022, providing an opportunity to make that water available to other parts of the state.
Water years 2020 and 2021 were the driest two-year sequence on record in California. And in August, Lake Oroville – the main reservoir on the State Water Project – reached its lowest point since being filled in the 1970s. Earlier this month, the state announced that if hydrologic conditions don’t improve, State Water Project deliveries next year would be limited to only what is required to ensure the health and safety of residents, and no water would be delivered under the normal allocation system. Access to the Semitropic Water Bank is important because it is strategically located along the California Aqueduct and can supplement the limited state project deliveries.
Much of Southern California can rely on a diverse portfolio of Colorado River water, local supplies and stored reserves, when state project supplies are limited. However, parts of Metropolitan’s service area – including communities in Northern L.A. County, Ventura County and San Bernardino County – cannot receive Colorado River water and are more dependent on state project supplies. Metropolitan has taken important steps to modify its delivery infrastructure to shrink this dependent area.
The agency also continues to promote increased water efficiency across Southern California. Metropolitan’s board declared a Water Supply Alert in August and a Drought Emergency in November, both calling for increased conservation. The board also approved a series of measures to expand rebate and water-efficiency programs. Depending on local conditions, some Metropolitan member agencies have implemented mandatory conservation measures.
(Editor’s Note: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that delivers water to 26 member agencies serving 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.
The San Diego County Water Authority sustains a $253 billion regional economy and the quality of life for 3.3 million residents through a multi-decade water supply diversification plan, major infrastructure investments and forward-thinking policies that promote fiscal and environmental responsibility. A public agency created in 1944, the Water Authority delivers wholesale water supplies to 24 retail water providers, including cities, special districts and a military base.)
A major winter storm hitting Northern California with rain and snow was expected to intensify Monday and bring travel headaches and the threat of localized flooding after an especially warm and dry fall in the U.S. West.
Light rain and snow that began falling on Sunday got heavier overnight. The multiday storm could dump more than 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow on the highest peaks in California and Nevada and drench other parts of the states as it pushes south and east before moving out midweek.
California will soak up some much needed rain this week on the heels of a sobering decision from the state to drastically reduce water distribution to the Los Angeles area due to our ongoing drought.
Meanwhile, the San Diego County Water Authority gets less than 1% of its water from the state, a remarkable difference from the 95% the agency received from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in the early 1990s. Conservation became a way of life in San Diego. Water use per day has been reduced by 50% since 1990 and remains consistent with levels seen during our last drought between 2012 and 2016.
"We ultimately were cut back by over 30% for 13 months. It harmed the economy and harmed the quality of life here. And it really wasn't a situation that we ever wanted to experience again," said Sandy Kerl, @sdcwa General Manager. #cawater #CAdrought https://t.co/NpJNAqDgN9
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) December 9, 2021
San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Sandra Kerl recently sat down with Brown and Caldwell’s Wendy Broley, director of technical practices, and Mike Puccio, Southern California operations director, to talk about her experience dealing with unprecedented challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, and drought.
California’s drought crisis is pushing officials to call for 15% reductions in water usage in communities throughout the state. Those found wasting water now could end up fined up to $500 a day, a new proposal from the California State Water Resources Control Board shows.
Under proposed emergency regulations, code enforcement offices could look for water wasters with those observed washing cars without a shutoff nozzle or residents watering lawns within 48 hours of a rain event potentially subjected to fines. The resolution will be considered by the state board in a Jan. 4 meeting.
