Laserfiche WebLink
<br />increase understanding of the vital water issues that impact Cali- <br />fornia and the law that governs them. <br />Now, on a personal note, it is difficult to write about California <br />water issues without viewing them from one perspective or another, <br />or at least being perceived to have done so. Nonetheless, our effort <br />has been to keep the book impartial and useful to a broad reader- <br />ship. But in this Preface I do want to express some of my own opin- <br />ions. We are not short of water in this State, although our supplies <br />generally come at the wrong time and not where they are most <br />needed. Storage, at least in part, remains a key to meeting future <br />needs. This does not have to mean more dams across more rivers. <br />Storage can be off-stream, and in groundwater basins.5 Reclaimed <br />water use can be expanded, and more coordinated use of surface <br />and groundwater supplies is also essential. And because any addi- <br />tional construction of significance will require at least a decade, <br />some reallocation among present uses, at least for an interim peri- <br />od, must playa role. Some water can be transferred from agricul- <br />ture on a voluntary basis without grave injury to that vital industry <br />or to the rural communities which agriculture supports. But we <br />should recognize that agriculture too is short of water, and meets its <br />present needs partially from groundwater overdraft. A wise long <br />term policy must also provide a reliable water supply for agricul- <br />ture, as well as for urban and envrronmental needs. <br />By far the most difficult problem, however, is to find a solution <br />for the present Delta diversions. This is not a question of biological <br />science. or hydrology, or economics, or engineering, but rather a <br />matter of political trust. For more than a decade this issue has kept <br />us stuck in conflict. Perhaps the new standards now under consid- <br />eration for the Delta will provide the necessary foundation to resolve <br />the issue, and to assure California's future water supply for urban <br />communities, agricultural interests and the environment. <br />In any event, it is time to come together and take charge of our <br />own future. We have been living too long off works constructed by <br />previous generations, and relying too much on policies of the past. <br />Arthur L. LittIeworth <br />March 1995 <br /> <br />5 Los Banos Grande in the San Joaquin Valley south of the Delta, and <br />Domenigoni near Hemet in Southern California, are both examples of off. <br />stream reservoirs fed from the aqueduct systems of the State Water Project <br />and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, rather than by <br />direct river flow. D"\iVR's Kern Water Bank represents a large groundwater <br />storage project. These projects are in the planning or construction stages. <br /> <br />viii CALIFORNIA WATER <br />