Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
It's Raining Now, but How Can California Boost Its Water Supply Later?
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 2 years ago on
March 21, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Lea este artículo en español.

Over and over again, drought launches California into a familiar scramble to provide enough water.

Rachel Becker

CalMatters

Cities and towns call for conservation and brace for shortages. Growers fallow fields and ranchers sell cows. And thousands of people discover that they can’t squeeze another drop from their wells.

So where can California get enough water to survive the latest dry stretch — and the next one, and the next?

Can it pump more water from the salty Pacific Ocean? Treat waste flushed down toilets and washed down drains? Capture runoff that flows off streets into storm drains? Tow Antarctic icebergs to Los Angeles?

The Newsom administration unveiled a roadmap for bolstering the state water supply. But the plan — which has few details, distant deadlines and scant plans for agriculture — has been met with criticism.

Every time another drought rolls around, an array of suggestions rise to the surface. We take a look at the strategies that could work — along with the more outlandish ones — and the obstacles they face.

 

About the Author

Rachel Becker is a reporter with a background in scientific research. After studying the links between the brain and the immune system, Rachel left the lab bench with her master’s degree to become a journalist via the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing. For nearly three years, Rachel was a staff science reporter at The Verge, where she wrote stories and hosted videos covering a range of beats including climate change, nicotine, and nuclear technology. Rachel now covers California’s complex water challenges and water policy issues for CalMatters. In 2021 she won first place for Outstanding Beat Reporting from the Society of Environmental Journalists.

About CalMatters

CalMatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom committed to explaining California policy and politics.

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Visalia Unlicensed Driver Smashes Into Home. No Injuries Reported.

DON'T MISS

Penn State’s Schumacher-Cawley Is 1st Female Coach to Win NCAA Volleyball Title

DON'T MISS

Myles Turner Hits Late 3-Pointer, Scores 23 as Pacers Beat Warriors

DON'T MISS

What Is Israel’s US Funded Plan for the Middle East?

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

DON'T MISS

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

DON'T MISS

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

DON'T MISS

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

DON'T MISS

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

DON'T MISS

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

UP NEXT

2 Rescued After Santa Cruz Wharf Partially Collapses Due to Heavy Surf From Major Pacific Storm

UP NEXT

‘It’s Living Hell’: Nurses Say CA Addiction Recovery Program Ended Their Careers

UP NEXT

New Decisions Boost California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate, but Major Hurdles Remain

UP NEXT

New California Voter ID Ban Puts Conservative Cities at Odds With State

UP NEXT

University of California Campuses Resolve Discrimination Complaints Stemming From Gaza Protests

UP NEXT

Tax Loopholes Cost California and Its Cities $107 Billion but Get Little Scrutiny

UP NEXT

California Declared an Emergency Over Bird Flu. How Serious Is the Situation?

UP NEXT

Next Phase of Friant-Kern Canal Repairs Begins With Intense Scrutiny of Study Contract

UP NEXT

Chinese National Charged With Acting as Beijing’s Agent in Local California Election

UP NEXT

CA Lemon Law Will Provide Car Buyers Fewer Protections in 2025

What Is Israel’s US Funded Plan for the Middle East?

59 minutes ago

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

2 hours ago

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

2 hours ago

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

2 hours ago

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

2 hours ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

2 hours ago

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

2 hours ago

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

2 hours ago

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

3 hours ago

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

3 hours ago

Visalia Unlicensed Driver Smashes Into Home. No Injuries Reported.

A vehicle crashed into a home near Cain Street and Ferguson Avenue in Visalia on Tuesday morning, prompting a response from the Visalia Poli...

17 minutes ago

A vehicle crashed into a home on North Cain Street in Visalia Tuesday morning, causing minor property damage but no injuries, with the unlicensed driver cited at the scene. (Visalia PD)
17 minutes ago

Visalia Unlicensed Driver Smashes Into Home. No Injuries Reported.

41 minutes ago

Penn State’s Schumacher-Cawley Is 1st Female Coach to Win NCAA Volleyball Title

52 minutes ago

Myles Turner Hits Late 3-Pointer, Scores 23 as Pacers Beat Warriors

Economist Jeffrey Sachs warns of potential US-Iran war in an interview with Tucker Carlson (pictured), citing decades of Israeli-influenced foreign policy in the Middle East. (Shutterstock)
59 minutes ago

What Is Israel’s US Funded Plan for the Middle East?

2 hours ago

Caitlin Clark Honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year

Rams
2 hours ago

Rams Don’t Dominate, but They’re Mastered Winning Ugly

2 hours ago

What Goes on at Fresno County School Board Meetings? It’s Hard to Tell

2 hours ago

Elaborate Holiday Light Displays Are Making Spirits Bright in a Big Way

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend