Fearing climate-related water loss, California acts to bolster its water supplies

[Auggie]

FINALLY!

San Francisco Chronicle / August 11, 2022

With California facing a hotter, drier future — and up to 10% less water by 2040 — Gov. Gavin Newsom released a new state water plan Thursday that calls for increasing water storage, stepping up water recycling, capturing stormwater runoff and building more desalination plants.

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Newsom said the plan capitalizes on existing resources, including expanding supply by 4 million acre-feet to create room to capture more water that now flows out to sea in large storms. The plan calls for expanding the capacities of 120 reservoirs throughout the state. But it also counts on underground water storage to replenish depleted groundwater supplies, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, where so much water has been taken from the aquifers that the ground is sinking.

The plan also calls for eliminating water waste by 500,000 acre-feet in urban areas and modernizing water management and forecasting plans, including reforming water rights.

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It’s not clear how much the program would cost — though Newsom said that money is not the main obstacle — or how long it would take to implement. None of the actions in the plan require voter funding or approval, he said, though the governor did announce that former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will be his new “infrastructure czar” and will be tasked with finding money, particularly federal infrastructure funds, to help pay for water and other infrastructure projects.

LINK (paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/California-acts-to-bolster-its-water-supplies-as-17367325.php

Article reports mostly positive feedback, though an environmental group, Food & Water Watch, called desalination “a wasteful boondoggle” that harms marine life and "called on Newsom to instead focus 'big water abusers' such as oil and agriculture industries.

Article reports there are currently 37 desalination plants in the state.