California water managers advise multipronged approach in face of climate change

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — State water management officials must work more closely with local agencies to properly prepare California for the effects of climate change, water scientists say. 

Golden State officials said in the newly revised California Water Plan that as the nation's most populous state, California is too diverse and complex for a singular approach to manage a vast water network. On Monday, they recommended expanding the work to better manage the state’s precious water resources — including building better partnerships with communities most at risk during extreme drought and floods and improving critical infrastructure for water storage, treatment and distribution among different regions and watersheds.

“In the five-year period since the publication of California Water Plan Update 2018, climate change has put unprecedented stress on natural and human systems,” experts say in the plan, which is updated every five years.

“During that time, Californians experienced increased wildfires, rising sea levels, and highly variable precipitation and runoff patterns that manifested as historic droughts and floods — all of which increased socioeconomic uncertainty. Although climate change certainly is not the only water-related challenge disrupting natural and human systems, all water sectors are vulnerable to its interrelated impacts. Moreover, California’s frontline communities, those most vulnerable to climate-driven impacts, are anticipated to face them earlier and more severely.”

Lewis Moeller, project manager at the state Department of Water Resources, said in a webinar Monday that California’s many regions are uniquely challenging to manage with a unified approach.

“We found that most responses to challenges are conducted at a local level,” he said. 

Eric Tsai, acting manager at the department's planning division, said the Newsom administration focuses on handling weather whiplash from extreme drought to historic floods, sometimes within the span of a year. The water plan is a critical piece of the approach to those extremes. He presented the Watershed Resilience Pilot Program as a new way to improve the statewide watershed network, which supplies more than 30 million people and millions of acres of agricultural land. 

The watersheds and the State Water Project are staring down the inevitable effects of climate change, which include increasing precipitation variability and swings between severe drought and floods, senior water resources engineer Romain Maendly said.

That instability makes resources across every part of the water system vulnerable, and keeps it difficult to prepare for climate disasters and preserve vital resources like quality water, Maendly said. Water managers face significant pressure to quickly adapt existing infrastructure to handle fluctuating levels of water, as snow runoff disappears in dry years and then reappears in extreme amounts during wet periods. For example, projections show that by 2070 the San Joaquin Valley expects a 96% increase in dependence on groundwater and in unmet demand for urban water. 

Lucian Filler, the department's planning program manager, said that the state must improve existing infrastructure to manage the fluctuating amounts of water entering 515 groundwater basins, which in total can store up to about 1 billion acre-feet of water.

“(They) must be modernized to adapt to climate change and continue to provide the necessary levels of service,” Filler said. 

Officials track that water supply using California's “simplified water budget” to make future management decisions, according to Jennifer Stricklin, senior engineer of water resources. This helps inform the state’s comprehensive water budget, accounting for all groundwater and surface water flowing in and out of basins, she said.

Agriculture uses 40% of California’s water, compared to urban water use at just 11% of the total water budget. Budget expert Abdul Khan said water agencies use this information to make new decisions, accounting for “every drop of water,” in visual datasets available online.

This approach also helps track which communities are most at risk of losing access to the water they need, particularly historically marginalized communities, according to environmental scientist Jordi Vasquez. Communities on the “front line," such as those with a long history of flooding, are more likely to struggle to adapt to fluctuating resources and thus need more attention and funding.

Vasquez and senior environmental scientist Emily Alejandrino recommended stronger partnerships with communities of color and tribal members, to learn about what these people need and respect for their ecological practices and methods of water management. Alejandrino said the state must do better to include Native leaders and ensure that their historic practices are part of new ecological management decisions.

The experts said in the plan that California officials can think ahead to prepare for "the cascading consequences of global climate change" with water resource planning that expands on lessons learned and past successes.

However, the experts cannot mandate the changes they recommend in the plan, Moeller said. State officials must authorize programs, and any needed funding, to set future changes in motion.

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