Are Policy Makers Exacerbating Drought Scares? That's What It Looks Like in California

By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted May 8, 2009.

The governor's big infrastructure plans have made many in California's north nervous. The Water Education Foundation reported:

Northern Californians today are worried that if the peripheral canal were built, delta water quality would stagnate without fresh water flows to dilute the farm runoff and municipal discharges into the estuary. This would damage delta fisheries and threaten the fresh water supply for communities and farmers who draw their water directly from the delta.

They are also worried that if the peripheral canal were built and the state no longer dependent upon the delta to channel water to the pumps, the delta would be abandoned, and the fragile levees will crumble as a result of neglect and inadequate funding.

Many leading researchers, like the Pacific Institute's Peter Gleick, and residents alike contend that the age of big infrastructure is over.

So, either the governor has bad science advisers, or he's catering to political interests, which leaves Californians in a bit of a pickle.

Right now, they're all getting an earful about conserving water (which is a good thing). And depending on where in the state they live they may also see restrictions on their usage or rate increases (which is also likely a good thing).

The governor is calling for a conservation plan that aims to cut per capita water use by 20 percent by 2020, which is a step in the right direction, although the biggest water consumer is not urban and suburban dwellers, but agriculture, which uses 80 percent of the state's developed water, according to DWR.

The state's massive plumbing problems and the over-allocation of water are serious issues that need to be addressed by legislators and regulators, but a reminder that we are pushing up against the limits of nature and working conservation practices into the routines of Californians every day -- and not just when there are officially sanctioned water shortages -- would do the state well.

And so would a shift in conversation about the solutions to California's problems. Instead of talking about how to conserve more and use water more efficiently, most legislators seem focused on figuring out how much money can be spent on new dams and canals.

"As we face these challenges, our leaders tend to rely on the same type of solutions that are causing the problems -- so we aren't going to get a different result," said McIntyre.

The Pacific Institute has studied how the state can get all the water it needs without massive construction projects.

"The good news is that California can meet the needs of farmers, businesses and a growing population well into the future without massive, and destructive, infrastructure projects -- if we take a smarter, more efficient approach to water management," said Gleick.

Areas like Orange County are setting a leading example of how to recycle water and thereby cut down on imported water -- a lesson that could go a long way in the state, especially in Southern California. Each day they treat 70 million gallons of waste water that is pumped back into the aquifer.

In reality, California's water pressures could help push it toward being a leader in the kind of water-management practices that will be essential in the 21st century. But that will require rethinking water distribution and the balance of power associated with it.

"The real solution," wrote Rachel Olivieri, "reducing and relocating vulnerable population centers, reducing consumer demand, developing local water sustainability and restoring watersheds is simply unthinkable -- and the unthinkable is the only solution."

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Tara Lohan is a managing editor at AlterNet.

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