Developers in California might want to pencil out some new long-term projections based on the state’s latest outlook for water supplies.
A recent report by the California Department of Water Resources — which oversees the various reservoirs, canals and other engineering works that shift water around the state under the name of the State Water Project — points to the possibility of a 23 percent reduction in its supply over the next 20 years, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The government project is a major source of water, accounting for the needs of about half the residential, commercial and agricultural development and operations throughout the state. Other sources ranging from local wells to imports from out of state also figure into the overall mix.
The Department of Water Resources’ analysis considered various scenarios and projected a cut in supplies of between 13 and 23 percent. Climate change was the chief factor, and the agency pointed to the outlook as reason to bolster the system.
“The SWP was designed for the climate of the 20th century,” Deputy Director John Yarbrough told the Times. “It’s going to need continued investment to get it in a place where it’s really able to function with the hydrology of the future.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom two years ago called on Californians to plan for an estimated 10 percent decrease in the state’s water supply by 2040. State officials have worked on a $20 billion plan for a 45-mile water tunnel as a second route to transport supplies from the Sacramento River into the aqueducts of the State Water Project.
That plan has taken shape against a backdrop of Californians making substantial reductions in water usage in recent years, with new technologies and consumer consciousness lending a hand.
The trend has some critics of the state’s hopes of big-ticket water infrastructure projects, saying putting a fraction of the funds toward continued conservation might be a better idea.
“That same money would be far better spent on efficiency improvements, ecosystem restoration, strategies to capture stormwater in Central Valley aquifers in wet years, and wastewater treatment and reuse,” Peter Gleick, cofounder of the Pacific Institute, a think tank focused on water, told the Times.