California Water Security

Much of the American West is experiencing historical water shortages; however, California, the most populous state with 38 million people, has been hit the hardest.
California is the world’s sixth largest economy, despite only being a state. Historically, California has had an abundant amount of water. When pipes and damns and reservoirs were built up, rural regions of California were given huge quotas for water, furthermore the price of water was incredibly cheap. There was no stress on the need for water – modern California is not like that. For the past four years, California has been suffering from the worst drought in its history. Due to this, many efforts have been put in place in order to improve the state’s water security.

Much of California is arid, it only receives 250-500mm of water a year; just above desert climate. Around 65 % of that precipitation is lost through evaporation and transpiration, 13 % flows out into the sea - leaving only 22 % left for human consumption. Furthermore, California's natural supply of water levels is seasonal, leading to shortages in between seasons that do not have a lot of rainfall. North California is in water surplus, over 75% of water falls there but around 75% of California's population live in the south – where there is a water deficit, leading to an immense amount of pressure to the population and how much water they are able to get.

Agriculture and water usage
Currently, 43 % of California’s supplied water goes towards agricultural use. California has plenty of open space, perfect for grazing animals and combined with it’s warm, Mediterranean climate it is ideal for growing crops. California grows half the fruit and vegetables that is eaten in America, meaning that agriculture is one of California's main sources of income. Ever since the drought, farmers have been affected incredibly hard. Water quotas for them have been lowered in order to supply rest of the population, farmers had to strategise and use what water they were given, all whilst maintaining efficiency.
Farmers had to irrigate their crops efficiently, one method was to use drip irrigation. This meant that crops only got the water they needed and when they needed, plus less water was gone to the surrounding environment as waste. Previously sprinkler systems were used, these were very inefficient as majority of water evaporated instantaneously as it was sprayed into the air and also went to places that did not need water. Drip irrigation is said to be 90% more efficient; however, it comes at a cost. The farmers themselves have to spend to make the foundations of the irrigation system – which is very high.
Another water conservation method that farmers have used is to stop growing water intensive crops such as rice, cotton and alfalfa – these crops weren’t very economically sustainable, only 10% more profit was made. To counter this, farmers decided to grow crops that were easier to irrigate and flourish, such as grapes and almonds. Grapes also meet the demand for wine makers, and thus proved with a higher income.
The methods that the farmers are using to conserve water, are in my opinion are good as not only do they aid in California managing their water supply and becoming more sustainable in terms of water usage, they are also benefitting themselves by bringing in more money from crops that meet demand and at the same time are easy to grow.

Domestic water usage
11% of California's water goes towards domestic/urban water usage. This includes homes, businesses, industry and public services (cleaning, fire fighting etc.). Californian citizens have recently become aware of the environmental impacts of their growing demand for water – residents of Palm Springs are beginning to realise that they live in an area with desert climates and water is something they need to not abuse.
Quite a few methods of water conservation have been advised to the general public across Southern California, both from new technologies that have been implemented and also from common household habits that help save water.

Water Transfer
Another solution to aid with California's water security is water transfer. Currently, California depends on two major water supply lines The Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. The Colorado River also plays a major part in providing Californians with water. Since the majority of California's water falls in the north, water there is regulated and stored. It is then transported to the San Joaquin Valley, which is in water deficit, through a series of pumping plants, pipes, canals and aqueducts.
The State Water project was created in 1933, it contains 20 major dams and reservoirs – providing electricity, irrigating 0.3 million hectares of farmland and providing clean drinking water to nearly 20 million Californians.
The other project put in place is the State Water Project. The State Water Project provides hydroelectricity using it’s 22 dams and reservoirs, irrigates 1.2 million hectares of farmland and also provides water for 23 million people.

These systems of transferring water have their advantages – reservoirs can be used for recreational activities for people; furthermore, dams can prevent flooding by holding back water. Water can then be released to generate electricity in a clean and non polluting way.
Although the systems put in place seem beneficial they do have disadvantages. For starters, these series of pipelines, pumps, dams and tunnels are incredibly expensive. Water has to be pumped across huge distances, including over uneven terrain – meaning a lot of energy is needed to power the pumps. In addition to this, this method is detrimental to the environment. Pumping out water out of rivers and streams have had adverse impacts on marine ecosystems. For example, a fish called the ‘Smelt’ has been driven to the point that is it considered very endangered – these fish are vital in the food chain of marine ecosystems. When dams are built, surrounding areas are flooded, destroying habitats of animals and even livelihoods of local people who live in the vicinity.
Moreover, these systems have caused conflict between the North and South. Due to the spatial imbalance of rainfall and distribution of the population, the State Water Project was constructed in the 50s to provide water for South Californians by collecting water from North California. This resulted in conflict between the north and south – North Californians feared that their water would be ‘owned’ by the south; whereas Southern Californians demanded that agreements should be made so that water flows would be maintained. In addition to these, the Bay Delta region, which is the area where supplies are transferred has become a sensitive area where multiple users still demand for more water.

The Colorado River is another main source of water for Californians. It provides 60% of Southern California's water via a system of 11 major dams and a series of aqueducts. It irrigates almost 1.5 million hectares of land and also provides 25 million people with water. California, over the past few decades have taken so much water out of the Colorado that it is now described as being a ‘trickle’ at the point where it enters the Gulf of California. The Colorado River Compact was drafted in the 1920s and allowed California to take out a specific amount of water to use – this quota back then was imagined to be more than enough; however, come to the modern day, California is taking out more than 20% of what was initially assigned. Future predictions suggest that major shortages are to come when the delta and river hit threateningly low levels of water.

Overall, water transferring is a method that is greatly needed in order to aid with the crisis of water shortage in California; however it is not a method that will help them maintain a sustainable water supply. Water is running severely low at seasons where rainfall is minimal in the North. New methods have to be thought up in order to help California alleviate its water conflict.

Water Recycling
San Jose, a major city in California and in the US, has taken up an initiative to recycle water. This is water that is unsuitable for human consumption; but is ideal for manufacturing and farming. The water is not fully cleaned; referred to as ‘grey water’ and is transported across San Jose in brightly coloured purple pipes that clearly distinguish it from other clean water lines. Industry and manufacturing requires a very high water intake, it is far more efficient that the limited clean water is not put to waste on these things and that recycled water is used. Recycled water is also being used to recharge underground aquifers, the layers of rocks and sediments filter the water further as they seep through the ground and rocks.
The downside to this is that grey water is still contaminated with possible harmful substances; possible consumption of it could result in disease, furthermore, reclaiming water to recycle is very expensive as a lot of money has to be spent on cleaning the water, but also on building new infrastructure (pipelines, pumps, storage etc.).
This method of alleviating California's water supply is really salutary, as it reduces the pressure on the need for clean, drinking water that people need and stops it from being wasted on items that do not particularly need clean, consumption safe water. Using grey water can help the state of California in maintaining a reliable freshwater supply.

Desalination
The ocean is vast and has a lot of water – around 96.5% of all of earth’s water is in the ocean. The water there is too salty for consumption, as even a small glass of it could result in liver failure and possible death. To make salty ocean water drinkable, the salt needs to be taken out. This process is called desalination.
Currently, California has multiple desalination plants. The small island off the coast of south California, Santa Catalina, produces around a quarter of its drinking water from desalinating ocean water.
The advantages to desalination is the straight up fact that it can provide unlimited amounts of water. California is situated right next to the Pacific Ocean and so water can be drawn all the time and easily.
On the other hand, desalination is somewhat of a last resort in maintaining a suitable amount of water. Desalination plants have to be built along with other infrastructure, this alone costs a lot of money. The process of desalination takes up a colossal amount of energy, that costs a lot but can also be damaging to the environment if it comes from coal powered plants. Furthermore, the extracted salt from the water has to be put somewhere and is usually dumped back into the ocean, increasing the concentration of salt in areas and ultimately leading to extremely sensitive marine environments becoming damaged.

Desalination, as said before is a last resort for California in terms of providing its population with water. It is possible that as time goes by, and there are more technological advancements, that the process of desalination becomes cheaper and more efficient. If that is the case, then this process can meet the surging demand for water that California has and allow them to establish a sustainable water supply.