PUB00022

• Year: 2000
• Title: Layperson's Guide to California Water
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Author: California Water Education Foundation
• Description: Layperson's Guide to California Water
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

Introduction

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The Sierra Nevada
slIowpack serves as a
natural reservoir where
winter precipitation is
stored until it melts in the
spring and summer.
California's average
mll/lUiI rUllo}f is about 7/
millioll acre feet (~f\\'ater.

1

California and water. The two always have been,
always will be, inextricably linked. No resource is as
vital to California's urban centers, agriculture, indus-
try, recreation, scenic beauty and environmental
preservation as its "liquid gold."

And no resource is as steeped in controversy.
Throughout California's history, battles have been
waged over who gets how much of this precious
resource. While the echoes of rifle shots and
dynamite explosions are part of the state's distant
past, the fight continues today in courtrooms through-
out the state and on the floors of the state Legisla-
ture and the U.S. Congress.

The fundamental controversy surrounding
California's water supply is one of distribution and
sharing the resource. Distribution, over both distance
and time. is coupled with conflicts between compet-
ing interests over the use of available supplies. Nearly
75 percent of the available water originates in the
northern third of the state (north of Sacramento),
while 80 percent of the demand occurs in the
southern two-thirds of the state. The demand for
water is highest during the dry summer months when
there is little natural precipitation or snowmelt.
California's capricious climate also leads to extended
periods of drought followed by flooding.

These basic problems have been remedied, in large
part, by the construction of one of the most complex
and sophisticated water storage and transport
systems in the world. An integrated system of federal,
state and locally owned dams, reservoirs. pumping
plants and aqueducts transport large portions of the
state's surtace water hundreds of miles. California's
rise to preeminence as the nation's most populous
state, and eighth largest economy in the world. has
depended in large part on its ability to resolve many
of these water supply problems.

But moving water over great distances has created
intense regional rivalries and charges that one area
of the state is robbing the birthright of another. These
feuds historically have divided the state, pitting north
against south, east against west, and the three major
stakeholders (agriculture, urban and environment)
against one another. Intense disagreements persist
over the manner in which California's water resources
are developed and managed.

Environmental groups and fish and wild lite biologists
argued for years that the health of California's fish
populations, riparian vegetation and wildlife have
been sacrificed to ensure adequate water supplies
for cities and farms. The environmental movement,

backed by strong state and federal environmental
legislation beginning in the 1970s. effectively blocked
the construction of most new dams and conveyance
facilities for more than 20 years. Other water
development projects have been stopped by high
construction costs, concerns over seismic safety and
the fact that few locations remain where sizable dams
or reservoirs can be built.

A time of unprecedented growth in California has
coincided with what many people consider the end
of the dam-building era. and an end to the way that
new water supplies have traditionally been acquired.
The 1990 census revealed that California's popula-
tion swelled to over 30 million people. Predictions
put the population close to 50 million by 2020, with
much of this growth occurring in semi-arid central
and southern California. The California Department
of Water Resources (DWR) estimated in 1998 that
urban water needs in average water years will
increase from 8.8 million acre-feet in 1995 to 12
million acre-feet in 2020.

Meeting water needs into the next century will be a
significant challenge for water suppliers. Currently,
CALFED. a coalition of federal and state entities,
along with stakeholder groups, is working to resolve
issues in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta - the
source of water for about two-thirds of the state. The
CALFED plan addresses the major areas of
ecosystem quality. water supply, water quality and
levee stability in order to improve Delta conditions
through a series of additional stages over the next
30 years (see page 17).

Water managers have been focusing on developing
alternative sources in order to meet the growing
demand for water without the availability of traditional
means. These include water marketing and water
transfers (exchanging, leasing or selling water from
one water user to another); urban water conserva-
tion programs; increased reliance on groundwater
supplies; water recycling; and sea water desalina-
tion. In 2000. California voters passed Proposition
13 - The Safe Drinking Water, Clean Water, Water-
shed Protection and Flood Protection Act - which
allocates nearly $2 billion for providing close to a
million acre-feet of new dry-year water supply for the
state, including in some of the aforementioned areas.

This Layperson's Guide, part of a continuing series
published by the Water Education Foundation, is
intended to give the reader basic background infor-
mation on California's water resources. More in depth
information on many of the topics addressed in this
guide can be found in other Layperson's Guides in