CalTrout News
Yes, this drought is bad, but as our friends at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences point out, with crisis comes opportunity. Dry years are always tough on fish, but fortunately California’s native trout, steelhead and salmon have survived drought periods many times in the past. But, we need healthy populations to be able to make it through these tough times. That means when times are good and wet, our native salmonids need to be able to take full advantage of the situation and build populations that are more resilient to and able to persist during these dry times.
From the California WaterBlog article:
California’s history is punctuated by droughts (Hanak et al 2011). Each drought reveals problems and becomes an opportunity to focus on improving water management and expanding smaller-scale innovations.
We agree that drought can lead to fundamental changes in the way water is managed in California. Shining a spotlight on the way we use water, where water is used inefficiently, and how imbalanced the price of water is for different users is all ripe for revamped policies on water management.
2 Comments
One thing the current drought has revealed (again!) is that the south State cannot always count on north State water. More dams and reclamation projects are only kicking the can down the road and prolonging the inevitable. The only long term viable solution is that southern California has to produce its own supply of fresh water, Desalination has worked all over the world; the time has come for So Cal to build desalination plant(s).
As an avid long range tuna fisherman, I have experienced desalinated water on many occasions. Its better than what passes for tap water in the south State and I don’t think the Pacific ocean will begrudge the amount of water necessary for such an endeavor. So why aren’t our legislators pursuing it? I guess the north State is selling their water too cheap to the thirsty masses of the south State.
Hi Jeff,
I just read your article in stream keepers log. Great to see some attempts made to educate people on the water issue!
We have one of the world’s largest, albeit underutilized, solar powered desalinization plant – called the water cycle.
Storage and management are important but address the issue as advil addresses an illness.
Conservation will be necessary as California uses a higher gpcd (gallons per capita per day) than other countries with similar climate zones and populations.
The practice of treating wastewater as toxic, and rainwater as a hazard needs to be addressed at the building site level to initiate sustainable water cycles in architecture.
I imagine homes of the future having an initial water allotment, and recycling that water on site, while collecting rainwater to supplement. I will be co-authoring a technical book about the subject this year for Artech house publishing to impact this issue.
Mark Gangi, AIA
I am the AIA California Council liaison to the California Department of Water Resources, Co-Architect of the LEED Platinum Museums of Water + Life for the Metropolitan Water District, and have a book contract with Artech House Publishing on Sustainable Water Cycles in Architecture