California Gov. Jerry Brown announced this month that he has cut back on drinking water and bathing. Brown’s personal efforts at water conversation have gotten a lot of attention in the media. But his campaign to implement a conservation-only policy is a distraction from California’s real problem: Its water system needs marked improvement.
After voluntary water reductions failed to improve California’s drought situation, Brown, in April, ordered the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to issue a 25 percent statewide mandatory water reduction for municipal users. But, as of April, the state had conserved only 13.5 percent compared to April 2013. While this is substantial — the SWRCB estimates this conserved 175.6 billion gallons, enough water to supply 6 percent of California’s population for a year — it showcases a hard truth about Sacramento’s anti-drought policy: Conservation alone isn’t enough.
The main problem with a conservation-only policy is that urban water use — the main focus of the SWRCB’s conservation mandates — represents just 10 percent of California’s developed water (i.e. the water available for human uses). Even if all Californians suddenly stopped using all municipal water, California water use would drop only 10 percent. Moreover, by some estimates, the average Californian uses 30 percent less water per day than the average American. More recently, the SWRCB has negotiated conservation targets with agricultural users, but agriculture has been doing without surface water transfers for a few years now, relying instead on groundwater aquifers. So again, even this conservation effort will have little impact.
California’s water conveyance and storage system needs an immediate upgrade. With global climate change altering precipitation patterns, California’s current system of turning snow-pack into developed water is not sufficient for a growing state. The current system — designed for a population half the state’s current size – captures only about 25 percent of the water that falls on the state. Expanding storage now (and investment in desalination) will help California prepare for future droughts.
Further, California’s convoluted system of water rights and regulatory burdens prevent transparent and well-functioning water markets, which leads to an inefficient allocation of the resources California does capture. While most of California’s water rights are prior-appropriation — “first in time, first in right” — this requires right-holders to use the water for a beneficial use. But the definition of “beneficial” is vague, leading to serious apprehension about trading water for fear of losing the right to it. On top of this, California’s regulatory water trade review system is so cumbersome that the process might take so long that a trade deal could become stale.
Finally, California needs to figure out how to handle environmental protection water demands. The current system was designed to supply only municipal and agricultural users. By the early 1990s, federal and state law had added environmental protection — such as water releases to aid fish runs — to the mix. This addition is important, but the state never adequately integrated it into the system. Instead, it essentially steals agriculture’s water.
While 80 percent of California’s water is allocated to agriculture, half of that is redirected to environmental protection, despite agriculture users paying for their full allotment. This stirs resentment, especially when reports surface of state and federal agencies releasing thousands of gallons of water for environmental purposes without any evidence of the effort’s efficacy.
California’s leaders must start acting as if this drought is the new normal. While California can and will survive the current drought, it needs to get serious about tackling the structural deficiencies of its water system. Conservation may be a good tagline, but it isn’t sufficient to solve California’s water problems.
Carson Bruno, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, primarily studies California’s policy and political landscapes. Follow him on Twitter @carsonjfbruno. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
