California could lose up to 9 million acre-feet of water by 2050. Here’s what can be done | Opinion

California’s water supply is trending poorly. Unless we act now to transform how California manages its water — by passing an important bill that would update our approach — the state will soon lose some of its year-to-year supply.

By 2050, California is expected to lose between 4.6 and 9 million acre-feet of its annual water supply. In other words, by 2050 at the latest, Californians would lose access to a volume of water that is enough to supply 50-90% of all the state’s households — or to irrigate 17-33% of all the state’s farmland. Picture a volume of water as large as two Lake Shastas disappearing from the state’s water bank.

If you remember the drought in 2022 and its restrictions on water supply, you know that California is regularly short of water. But the situation now is worsened by dated state policy and infrastructure, which are unprepared for the consequences of a hotter, drier climate. The situation demands serious, immediate action.

Fortunately, Senate Bill 366, authored by Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, would provide exactly that by setting an initial water supply target for California of 9 million acre-feet of additional supply by 2040. The bill would require the Department of Water Resources to develop a strategic action plan by 2028 for the state to meet this target, and it would also ask the department to not only develop a long-term target for 2050 and beyond, but also to update the action plan every five years.

By putting clear targets and an action plan in statute, SB 366 is the logical first step to a reliable, sustainable water supply for California. It not only covers the projected 4.6-9 million shortfall, it also positions the state in a better position to plan for adequate future supply.

For years, the burden of reduced water supplies has fallen on residents who have done their part whenever asked, by taking shorter showers, installing more efficient plumbing and practicing drought-tolerant landscaping. As a result, per-capita water use has greatly declined to the point where residential use today is about the same as it was in the 1980s — only, today, there are millions more of us.

Conservation, along with our last couple of wet winters, have eased some of the strain. But as a way of managing water for the future, an approach based mainly on conservation can only go so far; if California wants to keep growing, it will ultimately need additional water sources.

Along with conservation, new sources are needed, such as desalination (of saltwater), recycling and reuse (of stormwater and wastewater), above- and below-ground storage (reservoirs and groundwater recharge) and the rehabilitation of wetlands and other natural infrastructure. The full range of options will have to be used in order to serve the full range of the state’s needs. For that reason, SB 366 would not endorse any specific project or favor any type of new resource, but it would speed up overall progress thanks to a specific target and clear timeline.

With SB 366, California might finally begin the process of truly securing its future water supply for generations to come.

This story was originally published July 27, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California could lose up to 9 million acre-feet of water by 2050. Here’s what can be done | Opinion."