Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
One example of collaboration can be found in Northern California's San
Francisco Bay delta, which is currently a focal point of battles between water
users and a collapsing ecosystem. h e delta, which provides water for 27 mil-
lion Californians (mostly in the southern part of the state) and millions of
acres of farmland in the arid San Joaquin Valley, is the hub of the state's water
system. Many of the lessons that are being learned the hard way in the delta
should help other similar water conl icts throughout the West.
As discussed in chapter 12, water development over the past century—
resulting in changes in total river inl ows and timing, salinity, water tem-
perature, suspended sediment loads, contaminants, and nutrient levels—
has greatly af ected aquatic ecosystems and native i sh habitats in the San
Francisco Bay and delta. h ese impacts include population losses resulting
in several native i sh species (such as chinook salmon and delta smelt) being
listed as threatened and endangered. In recent years, ef orts to protect
endangered i sh have restricted the timing and amount of water diverted
from the delta for the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California cities,
leading California's legislature to enact the Delta Reform Act in 2009. h is
act mandates that water planning and policy going forward in California
now include two “co-equal goals”: protecting and rehabilitating the delta
ecosystem, and supplying reliable water to the state.
Two major reports on sustainable water and environmental manage-
ment in the delta were published in 2012 and 2011 by the National Research
Council (NRC) and the nonproi t Public Policy Institute of California
(PPIC), respectively. According to the former, an important i rst step toward
a more sustainable water future is acknowledging that water scarcity is now
a way of life. h is recognition would allow water policies addressing this
scarcity to be drat ed and implemented. In California, as in much of the
West, most of the surface waters have been allocated or even over-allocated;
there is not enough water to reliably meet all desired uses and needs. Water
scarcity has increased over the past century with the growth of population
and irrigated agriculture. As discussed in earlier chapters of this topic, the
natural climate in the West is highly variable, and the past century of rela-
tively wet climate may shit back to a drier phase. In addition, predictions are
that the West will be even drier in the future as the climate warms. Coupled
with continued population growth, the region will most certainly experience
more severe and long-term water scarcity.
h e NRC report notes that water scarcity has only been addressed in the
past during periods of drought, using water rationing as the main coping
