Most of California exists under dueling states of emergency. Since February, storms have caused emergency-level flooding and damage in 47 of the state’s 58 counties, yet most of California only recently exited a drought emergency.
One rainy season can’t supplant years of drought, but images of flooded cities and towns — and the injuries and deaths caused by these disasters — are made more painful when we hear that our state is running out of water nevertheless. The question that water managers and state policymakers must address is how to adapt our water system to eliminate the dual states of emergency.
The problems are well known. Years of low rainfall leave groundwater depleted and reservoirs at low levels. Historic storms provide relief from drought conditions, but only put a dent in the amount of water necessary to restore the environment.
Despite valiant efforts by Californians to conserve and local water agencies to recycle and reuse water, the system doesn’t store or deliver enough water to satisfy the needs of communities, the economy, and the environment.
To change this reality, California must modernize its water system and invest in new capture, storage, and conveyance infrastructure while maintaining demand management, to meet the water needs of a larger population and an increasingly volatile climate.
Since December, at least 31 atmospheric rivers have hit California. These storms have brought the state 144% of its average total precipitation — already 20% more than its average season-end total, and the season doesn’t end for five more months. As a result, water levels at 12 of the state’s 17 largest reservoirs are higher than their historical averages, while still awaiting runoff from the snowpack, which sits at 226% of its historical average.
But here lies part of the problem. To reserve space for spring snowmelt, reservoir managers must release water that should be stored, then used later as drinking water or for irrigating farmland, or even for recreation.
We should bank that extra rainfall and snowmelt so that in future drought years we have savings to draw from. Instead, without the space to store that water, the means to transport it to reservoirs that do have space or to improve environmental conditions — that surplus water ultimately ends up in the ocean.
We need new and innovative infrastructure to provide clean, safe, and affordable drinking water to meet the needs of our growing communities. Small rural communities and large urban areas all need better and more focused water planning at the state level. Now is the time to advance meaningful policy solutions to address these ongoing and perpetual issues that plague California year after year.
State Sen. Anna Caballero’s Senate Bill 366, which is on its way to the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, provides that direction by changing our state’s approach when it comes to managing water, setting water supply targets for communities, agriculture, and the environment, instead of just managing for scarcity.
The bill would establish long-term water supply targets for the state to achieve by specific deadlines and update the requirement that state agencies develop a plan to achieve those targets. All of this would be done in cooperation with local water agencies, wastewater service providers, and other stakeholders, and would go beyond any single administration.
In public service, targets create clarity, accountability, and follow-through; they are standards from which we can measure progress and adjust policies. This is why California sets goals in other vital sectors like climate, energy, housing, workforce development, education, and more.
We can continue to make modest improvements to the water system and hope that climate change and other challenges go away or prepare our state to thrive in the face of the challenges that science is predicting.
The choice is clear. If we want to address the dueling states of emergency, the time to act is now.
Gary Arant is general manager of Valley Center Municipal Water District, serving customers in Valley Center and unincorporated areas north of Escondido. His district is a supporter of the CA Water for All effort.