WATER SUPPLY SOLUTIONS THROUGH LOCAL WATER EFFICIENCY PROJECTS (Carole Lutness)

I will represent a district that has a long history of dependence on imported water, as does all of Southern California. But imported supplies to the region as a whole, and my district in particular, are vulnerable in the short term by virtue of persistent drought on the Colorado River, supply reductions to Los Angeles from the Owens Valley and below normal Sierra snow pack and the fragile ecosystem in the Delta. Although my District only receives water from the Sacramento Delta, water shortages and reductions from other sources will put more pressure on the Delta. The quality of supply through the Delta and from the Colorado River is deteriorating rapidly as well. Changing precipitation patterns and sea level rise associated with global warming are longer-term challenges that jeopardize all three sources of imported supply to Southern California and compound challenges posed by local drought and population growth.

Identifying Delta Solutions

Most solutions being discussed through the Bay-Delta Authority and Delta Visioning process are tied to traditional approaches of increased surface storage and conveyance; they do not go far enough to recognize the potential for resolving the supply challenges facing Southern California by virtue of export reductions. The findings of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Commission recognized that the Sacramento Delta is over-extended and we must reduce our dependence on it. Local sources could stem supply demands from the Delta region without compromising Southern California water needs.

There is an under-appreciated wealth of local water supply and water use efficiency projects in Southern California that warrant investment. Southern California must be recognized as a profound asset for solving problems in the Delta. The most effective and least expensive way to relieve pressure on the Delta is to develop demand reduction, local supply and groundwater storage resources in Southern California.

Possible Local Supply Strategies

Preparing for drought-induced or climate change curtailments in other sources of imported supply calls for the same solution that exists for relieving pressure on the Delta. It will be vitally important to accelerate the development and cleanup of the many local supply and groundwater storage alternatives that exist in order to reduce reliance on any single or limited source where reliability is increasingly uncertain, such as the Delta region.

Through the region's Integrated Resources Water Planning (IRWMP) process, strategies, programs and projects are emerging that illustrate the local self-reliance objectives that are being developed throughout Southern California.

Using the most optimistic projections of imported supply and realistic projections of demand, the Greater Los Angeles Region, consisting of 10 million people in a 2,200 square mile area, will have an 800,000 acre-foot (AF) gap between supply and demand by 2025. A reduction in projected supply will increase that gap further.

Many agencies have been developing local supplies through recycled water and groundwater storage and supply projects, and have realized significant achievements in that regard. The imperative is to further these efforts and maximize local supply and supply management through:

  • Aggressive conservation measures. The Governor of California has just set a goal of reducing per capita water use by 20% in the next 30 years. Assemblyman Laird has accommodated the Governor's request to provide legislative support for this concept by introducing a bill that will encourage such conservation. The goal of the Castaic Lake Water Agency (within the Santa Clarita Valley) is currently a 10% reduction, while the goal for 2025 in the Los Angeles region is an additional 200,000 acre-feet conserved, but an additional 150,000 acre-feet is a plausible benchmark. Increased attention should be paid to conservation in the area of landscape irrigation, water wise landscaping, smart irrigation, and the use of gray water. Collaboration with non-profit organizations to work with the public in achieving conservation goals has contributed to the success thus far of conservation improvements, and this model is expected to be continued for additional conservation gains.

  • The accelerated development and use of recycled water for landscape irrigation, commercial and industrial use, seawater barrier injection and spreading for groundwater recharge has proven value and enormous potential. The Greater Los Angeles Region currently produces 120,000 acre-feet of tertiary treated water for these purposes and loses another 132,000 acre-feet to the ocean. Both the Simi area and the Santa Clarita Valley also produce substantial amounts of recycled water.

  • Salinity Management, including Groundwater Desalination projects. Development of new water supplies through seawater desalination is subject to examination for their impacts to the environment and the intensity of their energy use. However, desalination of brackish water and groundwater is an important effort to maximize the potential for groundwater storage. As part of any long term strategy to ensure reliable supplies into the future, solutions that integrate managed treatment of salts in our watersheds is critical, as otherwise salt build up will eventually limit the use of this water. There have been a number of successful projects in Southern California that have treated wastewater or groundwater in order to directly create supplies and/or remediate past contamination and create capacity for maximizing the potential for storage of fresh water supplies. Each watershed/basin will likely have its own unique combination of solutions to achieve the goal of sustainable, high quality water supply. While not identified in the LA IRWMP, there is a saline plume totaling 250,000 acre-feet underlying the West Coast Basin. The plume is presently treated to produce 2,500 acre-feet of potable water per year.

  • Wellhead treatment and beneficial use of decontaminated groundwater is a promising water supply source. 91,000 acre-feet of potential has been identified through the LA IRWMP process, but much more than that is available for treatment that has not been identified in the process.

  • The capture of additional storm water behind existing dams and the more efficient use of spreading grounds has huge potential. Currently, there are proposed projects that would generate an additional 100,000 acre-feet from these sources. The potential is at least twice that amount:

    • Reduce and reuse 150,000 acre-feet of dry weather runoff annually. The potential is for 170,000 acre-feet more.

    • Reduce and reuse 220,000 acre-feet of wet weather runoff through diversion, treatment and infiltration. The potential is for 270,000 acre-feet more.

    • The implementation of watershed, wetlands, parks and habitat restoration initiatives provide multiple benefits that include both water quality and water supply. Concrete removal from some of the urban landscape, including portions of channelized rivers not needed for flood control, have significant potential for the reduction of pollutant loads to the ocean as well as water supply benefits in the form of groundwater recharge. Land use policies that encourage flood plain protection and protection of ground water re-charge areas by maintaining water ways in their natural state will also serve to provide local water supply.

  • The enhanced use of the substantial capacity in Southern California for groundwater storage in wet years for dry year use. There is more than 3.2 million acre-feet of physical storage space in the 10 groundwater basins in the region. Only 1.7 million acre-feet is useable water in storage. There is 450,000 acre-feet of unused but usable capacity in the Central and West Coast Basins of the Los Angeles Coastal Plain, more than 245,000 in the San Gabriel Basins, 135,000 in the Orange County Basins and 440,000 in the Inland Empire Basins. Groundwater storage capacity is the single largest and least used water resource opportunity in the region.

  • Both the Santa Clarita Valley and Ventura areas have developed IRWMPS that will provide additional local supplies. The LA IRWMP identified 1500 local projects; 392 relate mainly to water supply, 431 mainly to water quality and 416 mainly to habitat and open space. Projects from all regions have benefits in terms of water quality and supply. If completed these projects have the potential to exceed the 2025 goals for the region.

  • Similar efforts are underway in the other watershed regions of Southern California and combined, they illustrate the extraordinary creativity water agencies and land and river conservancies are bringing to plans, programs and projects that will make the region more self-reliant and sustainable.

Policy Proposals

The best way to reduce pressure on the Delta and to prepare for plausibly diminished imported supply from other sources well into the future is through the implementation of programs and projects that make Southern California more self-reliant.

State policy makers should devote the same sense of urgency to the future supply needs of Southern California as they have to problems in the Delta and the Delta levee system. The development of local projects in Southern California should be acknowledged by CALFED implementing agencies as a solution principle for the Delta.

There are many feasible projects in Southern California chasing too few dollars. Local funding sources, such as the Local Resources Program of the Metropolitan Water District, will continue to be necessary.

The energy costs associated with the imported water from the State Water Project are significant, due to the amount of electricity required to pump the water from the Delta, over the Tehachapi's, to Southern California. The State Water Project is the largest consumer of energy in the state. A reduction in the need for imported water would also reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Surface storage in new dams would take many more years to become available than development of local supplies through the strategies mentioned here and be extremely expensive in both infrastructure and energy costs. Climate change may also reduce water available for storage in the proposed new surface storage facilities.

The existing local funding support needs to be supplemented by a dramatic increase in state funding support for conservation, recycling and groundwater clean up and storage.

Some Recommendations for State Bond Funding for Southern California

Quite apart from statewide water reliability funding that appears in most bond proposals, I support a bond-funding category specifically to address near-term measures for long-term supply reliability for Southern California. I also recommend that the funding process mirror the IRWMP processes used for Propositions 50 and 84.

  1. Groundwater Remediation: $100 million.
  2. Groundwater Storage and Conjunctive Use: $350 million.
  3. Stormwater, Urban Runoff Capture and Reuse; 200 million.
  4. Protection of floodplains and recharge areas: $100 million.
  5. Demand Reduction and Conservation: $150 million.
  6. Recycled Water: $500 million.

Total bond amount: $1.4 billion

I propose that this funding package would support near term projects in Southern California that would provide more supply than would be lost by anticipated State Water Project curtailments while simultaneously easing demand on the Delta.

Carole Lutness
Democratic nominee
38th Assembly District