How California ignored lessons of an epic drought
By JustinFredrickson The epic California dry spell that even not-so-old drought historians like to call attention to—1976-77—tracks uncannily close to our current exceptional drought conditions of 2020-21. Sadly, California’s statewide water sys- temhas changed almost not a whit since
COVID“Comeback” package. Of that amount, nearly $1.8 billion goes tocleanwater for small anddisadvantaged communities. That’s an important priority for many rural and agricultural areas, but doesn’t includeanydirectwater supply for parchedCalifornia farms. Over $1.2 billion is earmarked for vari- ous fishandhabitat purposes—including $500 million for euphemistically labeled “multi-benefit land repurposing to sup- port growers.” To translate, that means converting dried-up farmland into some- thing else. For actual agriculture-related water supplies, the spendingplan includes $300 million for local groundwater sustainabil- ity, $200 million for regional water con- veyance, $220 million for Salton Sea res- toration, $60million for a state farmwater conservationprogramand$91million for improvedweather and runoff forecasting. The total proposed spending—$870mil- lion—onlymodestly fortifies diminishing farmwater supplies. Future generations may well one day look back, aghast, on a remarkable tale of multiple generations in California having had an astounding lack of vision and fail- ure to plan, lead and act. California can no longer afford to stand by listlessly or undertake partial mea- sures as the state lurches fromdrought to drought as our already inadequate infra- structure crumbles. If California is truly serious about beinga leaderinconfrontingtheclimatejuggernaut, it must move forwardwith historic invest- mentsandvision.Wecannolongeraffordto betheenablers—throughlackofaction—of tomorrow’s foreseeablewater crises. (JustinFredrickson is environmental pol- icy analyst for theCaliforniaFarmBureau. Hemay be contacted at jef@cfbf.com.)
t he 1970s . And stresses andstrains on the systemhave mounted expo- nentially, leaving us arguably in a far worse place. In the 45 years s i nc e t he s t a r t o f t he 1 9 7 6 - 7 7 d rough t t o t he alarmingdéjà vuof
The New Melones Reservoir, pictured in 2018 before current drought conditions, was California’s last major water project. It was completed two years after the devastating 1976-77 drought.
ter extraction as shrinking snowpack and more frequent andseveredroughts further strainedwater resources for agriculture. Despiteoverwhelmingvoterapproval of the Proposition 1 water initiative in 2014, the signature project—Sites Reservoir— isn’t anticipated until 2030. In the inter- im, California is unable to capture surface water in wet years that can be stored to improve drought resilience in dry years. But over many years, California’smajor economic and urban population centers have been investing to bulletproof their own portions of the system. Well-heeled moralists in these fortifiedbastions of arti- ficialwater reliabilityhavebeenpointing to the rest of our bone-dry state andwagging a disapproving finger. But, if things continuealongour current path, dry conditions may imperil coastal cities as well. Ju s t l a s t mon t h , t he powe r f u l Metropolitan Water District of Southern California issuedasupplyalert afterU.S. of- ficialsdeclaredawatershortageonacritical LosAngeles supplier, theColoradoRiver. Meanwhile, it hasn’t been the rest of
state’s fault that a long and almost unbro- ken string of decisions, indecisions and non-decisions left landlocked disadvan- taged communities and California’s mas- siveagricultural sector—theGoldenGoose of our Golden State—high and dry. In the face of all of this decline, agricul- ture is doing what agriculture does and has always done—its level best with the increasingly scarce means and resourc- es available to it. California agriculture is resourceful and resilient and will adapt. It’s just hardly like the old days, when the notion of making California fruitful and productive had the state’s wholehearted and enthusiastic support. Today, people still like and, of course, need to eat. They just don’t see or under- stand their food comes from somewhere andthat somewhere takesacertain level of water reliability to keep it all going. Last year, the Newsom administration created an action plan on water: the 2020 California Water Resilience Portfolio. As the drought and water crisis worsened, the administration in May announced a $5.1 billion water infrastructure chunk of amuch larger estimated$100billionpost-
Justin Fredrickson
this year’s crisis, California’sonceenviable statewide water systemhas steadily aged and deteriorated. The last major water project was completed two years after the 1976-77 drought, when the United States Bureau of Reclamationwrapped up years of work onNewMelones, the final reservoir of the mammothCentral Valley Project. Somehow, few lessons from 1976-77 have takenhold. Ever since, Californiahas been busy not adding much of anything. Instead, one non-decision and one new regulationat a time, thestategraduallydis- mantled a relatively reliable water supply system—replacing it with, well, nothing. Meanwhile, the Golden State’s popu- lation has ballooned fromover 20million people to 40 million. And without new water resources for growing communi- ties, California policymakers also steadily increased water demands to protect fish, wildlifeandtheenvironment at large. They placed major constraints on groundwa-
VOL. 48, NO. 34
September 15, 2021
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