State must improve water storage system in two ways
The old saying goes "when it rains it pours." But in California, our water supply is threatened in wet years, as well as dry years. With this precarious situation, California's water crisis could pale the energy crisis in comparison.
California has reached a critical stage in how it stores, conveys and uses water. While great strides have been made over the years in conserving water, whether it be in commercial, residential or agricultural uses, the state has done a terrible job in tackling the lack of adequate water storage facilities and the need to build better conveyance systems.
Unfortunately, the water problem in California has been allowed to fester for years. The fact that the Legislature and the last couple of governors have not addressed our water situation is inexcusable.
Now California sits in a third conservative dry year. As a result, farming towns up and down the Central Valley are dying on the vine because of the lack of water. Fields are going unplanted, workers are losing jobs, food prices are going up and communities throughout California are facing water rationing while the governor and the Legislature do little more than let the water run down the drain.
This did not have to happen. The fact is, California gets enough rain and snow in wet years to take care of our needs in dry years. The state has failed to manage what it has.
As we all know, the problem is that much of the rain and runoff from melting snow is not captured or stored. Just three years ago, the San Joaquin Valley was flooded by April storms and snow runoff. By one estimate, the state let go of 6.5 million acre-feet of water that year, which could have been stored. Instead, many parts of the Central Valley are now dying of thirst.
As a business owner and farmer, I see a very logical way that the state should proceed:
First, we need to start building new reservoirs now: one at Temperance Flat, just northeast of Fresno, and one at Sites, which is north of Sacramento. Both of these projects have been studied and studied and studied. It is time to pour cement.
This is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue -- it is simply the right thing to do. In fact, a number of rural Democratic office-holders and community leaders are very vocal in their support for building new surface water storage facilities.
Secondly, if we can actually start building new surface water storage facilities, then many Northern Californians would probably be willing to support a conveyance system to move water south. The new conveyance system would eliminate many of the environmental issues that plague the current system and cut off our existing water supplies.
Unless the state gets more water storage capacity, it really makes no sense to build new conveyance projects because there would not be much to convey.
Clearly, building a new conveyance system will benefit the environment because it will take pressure off a century-old levee system and help to restore the Delta, and, as a result, will help protect the very fish and wildlife environmentalists are fighting for. But as we look at moving water, we must also make sure we have enough water to take care of our needs.
Water is a crucial part of California, and the goal of securing reliable, high-quality water supplies for California should be a top priority for all policy-makers, not just the ones in the Central Valley. We need to implement smart policies that will achieve this goal. Nothing is more important to California and its economy than making sure that we have reliable water resources now and far into the future.
State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, represents the 12th Senate District.
