Water Allocation in California

Water Allocation in California
By Mark Christensen
November, 2009


Water allocation in California has become an important issue, with increases in demand from urban, agricultural, and environmental water-use sectors. While demand is increasing, California’s water supply has decreased due to an ongoing drought and a snowpack that is 39% below normal (Pickoff-White, 2009). Deciding how much water goes to each sector requires an understanding of how water supplies affect each sector. Urban growth has increased the demand for water, requiring aqueducts to redistribute water from far away, like Owens Valley to the Los Angeles area, which has caused environmental damage to Owens Valley. Aqueducts that transport water into the Central Valley have also caused environmental problems by endangering various species, like the Delta Smelt. Efforts to prevent this endangerment has affected agriculture, which requires the highest percentage of California’s water supply (52%) (Pickoff-White, 2009). Since choices in water allocation for one water-use sector affects other sectors, the debate over what should be done with California’s water supply is complex and controversial.

With the average California household requiring 162,924.7 gallons of water a year (Pickoff-White, 2009), and with an increase in population, the need to supply enough water in urban areas, so people can continue to live, becomes vital. Still, I would choose to allocate the least amount of water (14%) for urban areas because this is where I believe the most water waste occurs. As urban areas continue to demand more water, the natural ecosystem, which benefits us with natural resources and processes, faces the danger of becoming damaged, like the air pollution that resulted from the draining of Owens Lake by Los Angeles. The importance of maintaining critical ecosystems is why I think the environment should get 40% of California’s water supply. The greatest amount of water is allocated for agriculture, which provides food and jobs for many Californians. Without enough water for agriculture, as much as 37,000 Californian workers will be out of work, nearly 50% in some communities (Freking, 2009). The importance of food and the potential for unemployment in Californian agriculture is why I find it appropriate to allocate the largest amount of water for agriculture (46%).

With each sector demanding more water from a decreasing water supply, it is clear why there are shortages. However, Joel Kotkin, executive director at newgeography.com, blames water scarcity in the Central Valley on the environmental sector by referring to the shortages as a “direct result of conscious actions by environmental activists to usher in a new era of scarcity” (Kotkin, 2009, p. 1). Kotkin fails to mention the reason that California originally began redistributing water into the Central Valley: the Valley was overusing its ground water, its own water source. The scarcity of water in the Central Valley has more to do with the farmers’ decision to expand an industry that required more water from the environment than was locally available. Kotkin narrowly focuses on negative effects to people, like unemployment, but he fails to mention how environmental damage can also affect people negatively. According to an economic report by the National Marine Fisheries Service, commercial and recreational fishing made more than $185 billion in sales and supported more than 2 million jobs in 2006 (Bacher, 2009). Diverting water from the Delta hurts the fish population, which hurts the Recreational and commercial fishing, which are businesses that rely on the health of the Delta. (Bacher, 2009). Protecting these fish is part of an effort to preserve natural systems that provide us with a variety of goods and services, so Kotkin should not be outraged when water is allowed to “flow untapped into San Francisco Bay,” for the sake of protecting Delta fish (Kotkin, 2009, p. 1).

In order to adequately provide a comprehensive presentation of water issues in California it is important to understand how the scarcity of water affects each water use sector and how the allocation of water to one sector over another has profound effects. Deciding who gets how much of California’s limited water supply is a complex task, as agriculture needs water to provide food and jobs for Californians, urban areas need water to maintain a growing population, and the environment needs water to ensure that natural systems, that we rely on for resources and healthy surroundings, are not ruined.

Bibliography

Bacher, D. (2009, March 6). The California Water Wars: Not a Conflict Between Fish and People. truthout.org. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from www.truthout.org/030609EA
Freking, K. (2009, April 1). Central Valley leaders seek more delta water. San Francisco Bay Area. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/01/BA6916QCC8.DTL&hw=California+agriculture+water&sn=004&sc=334#ixzz0Vlg7scNp

Kotkin, J. (2009, March 17). How Elite Environmentalists Impoverish Blue-Collar Americans. Forbes.com. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/16/california-environmentalists-water-agriculture-opinions-columnists-scarcity_print.html

Pickoff-White, L. (2009, April 9). You decide who gets California's water. San Francisco Bay Area News, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Classifieds: SFGate. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/04/09/water.DTL&type=green