California Water Policy
The State of California, with a population of 39 million people, is the nation’s most populous state (California’s population, 2022). Of the total population, 26.3 million, or 68.5%, live in coastal portions of the state (California, n.d.). In total, Californians use 38 billion gallons of water per day from wells, plus water taken from rivers, canals, and reservoirs — the equivalent of the full capacity of Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir — every 40 days (James & the Desert Sun, 2014). California’s water storage and delivery system is built for 22 million people, and current conservation techniques will never meet the needs of its current population (United States Congress House Committee on Natural Resources, 2015, p. 9).
Water seems abundant; however, over 96 percent is saline water in oceans (“How much water is there on earth? | U.S. geological survey,” 2019) and only 0.3% is found in the surface of water of lakes, rivers, and swamps (“Earth’s freshwater | National Geographic society,” n.d.). California’s water is shared by three sectors, namely (1) 50% for the environment; (2) 40% for agriculture; and (3) 10% for urban use (“Water use in California,” 2022). During the summer months and especially drought conditions, there is less precipitation and snow, which reduce the amount of water in rivers, streams, and reservoirs.
In response, agricultural users and residents in rural areas must increase pumping from groundwater storage (Serrano, 2011, p. 10). Over-pumping causes subsidence, the permanent collapse of groundwater aquifers. When an aquifer collapses, it permanently loses its ability to store groundwater. As a result, farmers and residents must dig deeper wells to reach deeper aquifers. When funding for rural community wells is delayed by negotiations or by regulatory water studies, small communities must buy expensive surface water which, in the case of the 440-person settlement of Cantua Creek and El Porvenir has led to a $440,000 debt for their water (Vad, 2022).
California is no stranger to recurring drought which include the events from 2012–2016, 2007–09, and 1987–92 (“Drought,” 2022). The current drought of 2020–2022 is considered the state’s driest period on record (Greene & Lauder, 2022), with January 2022 through March 2022, the driest in over 100 years (State of California, n.d.). Droughts affect public health and safety, such as wildfire risks and drinking water shortages, degradation of urban environments due to loss of landscaping, agricultural land fallowing and associated job loss, degradation of fishery habitat, and tree mortality with damage to forest ecosystems (“Drought,” 2022).
Agriculture’s Thirst
The Central Valley, also known as the Great Valley of California, covers about 20,000 square miles and is one of the more notable land depressions in the world (California Water Science Center, US Geological Survey, n.d.). It has the world’s largest patch of Class 1 soil (Perez, 2019), called “Green Gold” that produce over 250 different crops (“Soil — San Joaquin — California State capitol museum,” 2022). California’s fertile and temperate growing regions has made it the №1 agricultural producer and exporter for the past 50 years (“California State Fact Sheet,” n.d.).
According to the U.S. Geological Services, the Central Valley produces ¼ of the nation’s food, including 40 percent of the nation’s fruits, nuts, and other table foods, provides 829,300 farmworker jobs, of which 97,000 jobs are dedicated to the almond industry (Perez, 2019). For the 2020 crop year, California’s 69,600 farms, ranches, and plant nurseries earned $49.1 billion in cash receipts, with the dairy industry leading at $7.5 billion in revenue, followed in second place by the almond industry at $5.6 billion (“California Agricultural Statistics Review, 2020–2021,” n.d.).
Despite its enormous 40% water demand, the agriculture industry contributed $46.8 billion, or only 1.5%, to the California economy which pales in comparison to the earnings of the first-place GDP earners in the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Rental, and Leasing sector at $573.1 billion, or 19%, of total GDP (“California economy,” n.d.).
California Water Board Failures
The California State Water Resources Control Board is led by five (5) appointed member who set annual strategic goals and oversee 52 water programs (“Board Information,” n.d.). The Water Board has historically been unsuccessful in coordinating a comprehensive program and allowed mismanagement of water, some of which include: (1) water agencies (Walters, 2020) that, during wet years, instead of diverting water to storage areas, begged farmers to take water onto already rain-soaked and flooded fields (United States Congress House Committee on Natural Resources, 2015, p. 16); (2) environmentalists who prioritized the smelt and salmon population, and proposed unimpeded water flows from reservoirs out to the ocean (United States Congress House Committee on Natural Resources, 2015, p. 15); (3) foreign-owned corporate farms that grow water-intensive alfalfa for export to Saudi Arabia’s dairy industry (Markham, 2019); (4) local farms that use the wasteful method of flood irrigation (Alskaf, 2016); (5) municipalities that have been accused of supporting the unimpeded flow of water to the ocean — under the guise of protecting the fish habitat — to quietly wash away low-quality sewage they dumped into the river (United States Congress House Committee on Natural Resources, 2015, p. 18), and to flush away pollution along the California coast, as well as a means to clean up oil refinery pollution in the San Francisco Bay (United States Congress House Committee on Natural Resources, 2015, p. 64); and (6) ranchers that use 142 million gallons of water a day to maintain dairy cows — more than enough water to provide the daily recommended water usage for every resident of San Jose and San Diego combined (Greenaway, 2022).
To add, the water conflicts have become proxy wars for land-use disputes between those who want to build residential areas out of farmland, and builders who want to erect high-density urban housing to quell the chronic housing shortage, for which developers must first prove that they have secured water rights before they can even begin to build (Walters, 2020). Lastly, the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) found that the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta network with an availability of 29 million-acre/ft is strained against the 153.7 million acres/ft of water rights claims, over 5 times more claims than what is available (Orobello & Cirella, 2021).
The lack of sound management practices at the State level, led to public hearings that involved the Federal government in 2015; however, continued lack of coordinated State action is perpetuating Madison’s warnings about faction’s skill in “instability, injustice, and confusion introduced to public councils” that throughout history destroyed popular governments.
Factions, Federalist Papers #10
The main source of faction is the “unequal distribution of property” (Federalist Paper #10, paragraph 7) that is inherent within the competitive “nature of man” whose self-interest overrules logical reasoning. Madison cautioned that the Union must control the coercive powers of socio-economic and political groups because “the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties [,] … not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority” (Federalist Paper #10, paragraph 1).
To control the misconduct of factions, Madison proposes to: (1) remove the cause — by destroying liberty, or (2) to control its effects — by providing each citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests. But Madison warned that removing liberty is worse than misconduct because liberty, and the freedom to choose a position, is a critical component of a vigorous political economy.
Furthermore, to dull the effects of faction through an equal playing field is quixotic because humans are gifted with different sets of talents. Even if all citizens start with the same resources and opportunities, the market and the polis are unpredictable, society allocates different circumstances, and man uses their resources with different intensity and frequency, which in combination, result in unequal positions.
Despite the issues brought about by liberty and by inequality, government’s priority is to protect liberty, and then, regulate the conflicting interests of faction through legislation within the “ordinary operations of government”(Federalist Paper #10, paragraph 7).
Analysis of California Water Faction
California’s inability to rein in faction has led to the debilitating and dire condition of one of its most precious resources, some of which include: (1) capitulating to powerful foreign and domestic corporate interests; (2) overlooking the needs of the poor and underrepresented; (3) failing to plan for long-term drought conditions in the Central Valley and Southern California; (4) lacking the foresight to control over-population; (5) being deficient in managing the competing requirements between large cities and smaller communities; (6) delaying infrastructure improvements; (7) not planning for the declining supply from the Colorado River and the Sacramento Delta; (8) staying indecisive about desalination methods; and (9) untimely, or inappropriate amounts released from reservoirs.
Instead of confronting the wastefulness of the agriculture industry, California’s public awareness campaign guilts its citizens into conserving water despite that water use per person has dropped from 231 gallons per day in 1990 to 180 gallons per day in 2010 and has even dipped as low as 146 gallons per day during droughts (“Water use in California,” 2022).
Rather than punishing municipalities that pollute rivers, the State punishes the average citizen with higher water rates. In lieu of regulating its own water districts and disciplining them for a conveyance loss of 3% in urban areas and an 8% conveyance loss in agricultural areas, the State defers tough decisions to the Federal government.
Instead of protecting the interests of the weak, the State sides with large economic and governmental interests while increasing water fees for the average household.
The Civil Religion of California Water
Kennedy articulated that “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of G-d” (Bellah, 2005, p. 41), with certain inalienable (normative) rights, including life (“Declaration of Independence: A transcription,” 2022).
Humans can live for up to two months without food (Barrell, n.d.); however, man cannot live over a week without water (Packer, 2002). Food and water are necessary for human survival. A society requires both, and an ecosystem such as that of California — the 5th largest economy in the world, an adequate, sustainable, and affordable supply of food and water is critical for sustaining the health, wealth and competitiveness of its people and industries.
A reduction in supply, and/or diminished quality of food and water negatively impacts the entire State, the survival of American citizens in other states, as well as the momentum of the global economy.
Unlike the Exodus where the Hebrews crossed waters to safer land, in California, it is water that must cross deserts and climb mountains to reach residents along its western coast and farmers in the Central Valley, a trek of 700 miles from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California, a journey of 242 miles from the Colorado River west to Los Angeles (“Bringing Water to Southern California,” n.d.), and over 120 miles further south to San Diego, a city that purchases 85% to 90% of its water from both Northern California and the Colorado River (“Water supply,” n.d.)
The interconnectedness of life, water, agriculture, and business raises a deep question about California’s priorities:
Should California prioritize water for its citizens — and deprive industry of its ability to nourish the same citizens, and the rest of the world?
Or should California choose industry — and dispossess it citizens of clean water for drinking, bathing, cooking, and sanitation?
I propose that a balance is achievable through the tenets of civil religion according to a quote from Lincoln’s second inaugural speech — “With malice toward none, with charity for all” (Bellah, 2005, p. 47).
Redesign the Water Board and Establish a Stand-alone “Future Water Oversight Committee”
This entails a redesign of the California water oversight infrastructure, some of which could include: (1) increasing the number of California Water Board members who are currently responsible for 52 separate programs, from five (5) to 13 members, which will reduce the workload from an average of 10.4 programs per board member to four (4) programs per member — allowing each board member the opportunity to delve deeply into issues within their particular sector; (2) requiring that the 13 board members be appointed from all sectors of society including industry, community groups, minority/racial groups, civil engineers, law and policy, and human rights groups, ensuring that no one group is overly represented to ensure an equal voice; (3) renegotiating water rights with Nevada and Arizona to the East and with Mexico to the South; (4) expediting the construction of additional desalination plants, including the power grid to sustain the additional infrastructure, by quickly deconflicting issues that are within the purview of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the California Coastal Commission, the Department of Defense, municipalities, cities, and counties along the coast; (5) ensuring that water rates for the poor remain affordable through tiered pricing according to household usage and family income; and (6) by establishing a first-ever, independent “Future Water Oversight” department within the California Water Board that focuses on future population growth, future water demand, future solutions, and visionary goals.
Currently, all Water Board programs are focused on relatively near-term issues. A stand-alone “Future Water” department can push back against the habitual short-sightedness of today’s demand.
Conclusion
Without water, food cannot grow. Without adequate food and water, humans cannot contribute to society. Without a vigorous citizenry, the California economy will falter.
Until state level policy is fixed, street-level implementation of programs will continue to disappoint. Water programs and projects fail because California policy makers are spread thin and are focused on relatively short-term solutions. Just as nature needs the appropriate amount of nourishment to sustain life, California should create favorable conditions for its policy makers so that they can quickly re-prioritize agendas and goals, first of which is to establish an independent “future water-oriented cell”, and secondly, to add eight (8) additional board members to reduce the policy workload per member.
This two-pronged approach will efficiently and effectively deconflict priorities so that citizens, the polis, and industry are able to, figuratively and literally, stay hydrated and nourished for generations to come.
Copyright Leonard Casiple 2023. All rights reserved.
About the author: Leo Casiple is a first-generation American who grew up in Southern Philippines under martial law. He spent much of his 21-year career in the US Army as a Green Beret.
Leo is currently a doctoral student at Northeastern University’s Doctor of Law and Policy program (2022–2025 Cohort). He earned his education from California Lutheran University (MPPA), ASU Thunderbird School of Global Management (MBA in Global Management), Excelsior University (BS in Liberal Arts, Ethnic and Area Studies), Academy of Competitive Intelligence (Master of Competitive Intelligence™), Defense Language Institute and Foreign Language Center (18-month Arabic Language Course), and the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (Special Forces Qualification Course and Psychological Operations Specialist Course).
For more information about the author, click here: Leo’s LinkedIn ProfileWorks Cited
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