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Page 67 – Pacific Institute

California Water 2020: A Sustainable Vision

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Overview

Every day, California wastes water in each sector of the the state’s economy. Steps must be taken to ensure there is enough water for people, businesses, agriculture, and the environment to thrive now and in the future. Although published in 1995, this report’s overall conclusion — that California water use is unsustainable and requires a new approach — is as true today as it was the day the report was published. The report presents a unique vision of a truly sustainable water future for California and lays out detailed steps to reach this vision, including expanding the use of water-efficient technologies and practices and ending the non-renewable use of groundwater in California.

Resources

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-9

Water and Conflict: Fresh Water Resources and International Security

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Overview

Fresh water is a fundamental resource, integral to all ecological and societal activities, including food and energy production, transportation, waste disposal, industrial development, and human health. Yet fresh water resources are unevenly and irregularly distributed, and some regions of the world are extremely water-short. As we approach the twenty-first century, water and water-supply systems are increasingly likely to be both objectives of military action and instruments of war as human populations grow, as improving standards of living increase the demand for fresh water, as global climactic changes make water supply and demand more problematic and uncertain. This article outlines the links between water and conflict, and presents some of the issues and information that make it possible to assess when and where water-related conflicts are most likely to occur. Tools for reducing the risks of such conflicts are also presented, together with recommendations for policymakers.

Environment and Drought in California 1987-1992

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The years 1987 to 1992 comprised the second driest period in California’s recorded climate history. For six years, precipitation in the state was only about three-quarters of the recorded average, while streamflow was a mere one-half of the average. many of the most severe and long-lasting impacts of the recent drought fell on the state’s natural environment. Moreover, future droughts are likely to cause still more severe impacts to California’s environmental resources.

Drought is a natural phenomenon, which may potentially contribute to stability of ecosystems over the long-term; however, the resistance of species and ecosystems to natural stresses is dependent upon the condition of ecosystems prior to the onset of drought. Highly modified ecosystems, such as those encountered throughout California, are much more likely to suffer permanent changes during extended dry periods. California’s plant and animal populations have weathered droughts of comparable severity in the past; yet there are many factors today that prevent wild populations from rebounding from a drought as they once might have. Among the most important are the extremely small size of many populations and the fragmentation of habitats. Small populations are more likely to become extinct as a result of droughts, while fragmented habitats make it impossible for species to migrate to seek better conditions during drought and also preclude the natural recolonization of areas following a sever drought.

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The Societal and Environmental Cost of the Continuing California Drought

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Since 1987, the State of California has been in the grip of a severe drought. water availability throughout the State has been far lower than normal for each of the last five years when measured in any of a variety of ways: total precipitation runoff, groundwater overdraft, or reservoir storage. The current drought is comparable in severity to the drought of the late 1920s and early 1930s, considered to be the worst drought on record and there is no guarantee that next year will be any wetter. The California Department of Water Resources has classified four of the last five years as “critically dry”, while the fifth was classified as “dry”.

We present here the information on the impacts and economic costs of the drought where they are available, for a wide variety of sectors. We also assess what the current drought tells us about California’s vulnerability to global climate change. We have avoided making an overall dollar estimate of the costs of the drought to California in part because such estimates can be misleading. They tend to focus attention on those impacts that can be easily quantified while undercounting those impacts that cannot be readily assessed in economic terms. Indeed, our study suggests that many of the most sever effects of the first four years of the drought have been in those sectors that are not adequately evaluated by economic measures, the State’s ecological resources: its fish, wildlife, forests, and natural ecosystems.

Based on the information collected for this report, we believe that the greatest impacts are currently falling on the environment, and that, moreover, many of the ecological effects may be irreversible. In addition, California will see substantial economic costs, totaling roughly $3 billion, as a result of decreased hydroelectric potential. Limited portions of the agricultural sector are also bearing heavy costs, although the effect on California’s overall farm income will be relatively small. While urban areas have suffered shortages, they have been manageable in most cases and have not cause major economic dislocations. The additional rainfall that the State received in March of this year helped to avert much more serious impacts int eh municipal and industrial sectors, but only modestly improved the conditions of ecosystems and the water supply for agriculture.

The drought is not over. With doubt, another dry year would result in much more severe situation than California has experienced thus far. Reservoir reserves have been drawn down to extremely low levels, some fisheries populations have been brought to the verge of extinction, if indeed they have not already been pushed over the edge, and ground-water reserves have been severely depleted in many agricultural regions.

Assessing The Costs Of Adapting to Sea-Level Rise: A Case Study of San Francisco Bay

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Across the United States, coastal communities are grappling with crumbling infrastructure, flooded businesses, and overflowing sewers as a result of climate change-induced sea-level rise. The value of property threatened by sea-level rise around the San Francisco Bay is particularly high. Published in 1990, this study presents useful methods for assessing the potential costs of protecting against sea-level rise. The report applies this method to the San Francisco Bay Area, exploring structural options and costs for protecting property in threatened areas.

Resources

Tool: Figure 7. Area of San Francisco Bay Threatened by a 1-meter Sea-Level Rise: Southern Portion

Tool: Figure 8. Area of San Francisco Bay Threatened by a 1-meter Sea-Level Rise: Northern Portion

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California Water 2020: A Sustainable Vision

Overview

Resources

Water and Conflict: Fresh Water Resources and International Security

Overview

Environment and Drought in California 1987-1992

Overview

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The Societal and Environmental Cost of the Continuing California Drought

Overview

Assessing The Costs Of Adapting to Sea-Level Rise: A Case Study of San Francisco Bay

Overview

Resources

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