California has a long history of success in leveraging innovations in science, technology, management and implementation strategies to improve its resource management, including its continued leadership in energy efficiency. The State’s best strategy for dealing with its water challenges, both current and future, lies in taking a system management approach to water similar to the approach used for energy. Also, as with energy, innovative water technologies represent a sound business opportunity for California.

This report highlights innovations in science, technology, management, and implementation across a broad range of water supply, demand and management areas, and suggests strategies and recommendations for continued investment and support of innovation in California. It is our assessment, as detailed in this report, that continued innovation both through the development of new solutions and the broader application of proven successes can help California improve its water management and support a long-term healthy and sustainable water system. In order to be successful, however, we will need to align our efforts on an integrated set of strategies (roadmap) that will require leadership, action and investment by both the public and private sectors.

This report draws on a wide spectrum of water technology experts throughout the state, from academia, state and local agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, to identify and describe innovative water technologies and/or systems approaches with significant potential to help California achieve water sustainability. Our intent is to include technologies that can be introduced or more widely applied to California’s water system(s) within the next five to ten years, and which are suitable for implementation at levels ranging from local to statewide.

It is our belief that many of these recommendations lend themselves easily to the development of policy actions needed to support implementation. It is beyond the scope of this study to evaluate the economic viability or potential of individual technologies and other innovations.