Maxwell Norton: California growing again, but water supply isn’t
A recent article brought attention to Merced County cities enjoying a growth spurt; a later, related article noted California’s population is resuming its rapid growth. The same papers carried the usual articles about wide-spread water problems. So we beg the question – where are these cities going to get the water they need to support all the houses those people will want to live in?
Everywhere you look, you see water-drilling rigs busy replacing dry wells or installing new ones. Most cities in the western United States are facing either uncertainty about future water supplies or problems related to groundwater quality becoming so poor it is unsafe to drink. Continuing to grow and just saying “we will find the water somewhere” is rather reckless. Cities and irrigation districts all over the west are looking for water to buy water, but there is very little for sale – at any price.
Maxwell Norton, Atwater
This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Maxwell Norton: California growing again, but water supply isn’t."