20 x 2020 Water Conservation Plan

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | February 18th, 2009

In February 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger introduced a seven-part comprehensive plan for improving the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As part of this effort, the Governor

In February 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger introduced a seven-part comprehensive plan for improving the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As part of this effort, the Governor directed state agencies to develop a plan to reduce statewide per capita urban water use by 20 percent by the year 2020. This marked the initiation of the 20x2020 Water Conservation Plan (20x2020 Plan) process. The 20x2020 Plan sets forth a statewide road map to maximize the state’s urban water efficiency and conservation opportunities between 2009 and 2020, and beyond. It aims to set in motion a range of activities designed to achieve the 20 percent per capita reduction in urban water demand by 2020. These activities include improving an understanding of the variation in water use across California, promoting legislative initiatives that incentivize water agencies to promote water conservation, and creating evaluation and enforcement mechanisms to assure regional and statewide goals are met. The 20x2020 Plan discusses these many activities in detail.

A Community Guide for Evaluating Future Urban Water Demand

Pacific Institute | August 31st, 2016

A Community Guide for Evaluating Future Urban Water Demand provides communities, environmental groups, ratepayer advocates, and anyone interested in sustainable water sup

A Community Guide for Evaluating Future Urban Water Demand provides communities, environmental groups, ratepayer advocates, and anyone interested in sustainable water supply planning with the knowledge and tools they need to understand water demand forecasts. Communities across the U.S. are faced with decisions about how to meet the needs of a growing population. To help make these decisions, water utilities often rely on forecasts that project water use 20 or 30 years into the future, consistent with the amount of time it takes to develop new supply infrastructure, such as desalination plants or reservoirs. For much of the 20th century, water use in American cities grew in proportion to population and the economy. Since the 1980s, however, water use in communities across the United States has remained steady or declined despite continued population and economic growth, due to improved water conservation and efficiency and structural changes in the American economy. While the water sector has undergone a fundamental transformation, the practice of water demand forecasting has been slow to keep pace. Water suppliers routinely overestimate future water demand based on often overstated estimates of population and economic growth and underestimates of the effects of water conservation and efficiency improvements. These inflated estimates of future water needs can result in unneeded water supply and treatment infrastructure, higher costs to ratepayers, and unnecessary environmental impacts. The guidebook explains how water utilities forecast long-term water demand and reviews some of the approaches and methods commonly used by utilities and consultants. It also provides a set of best practices that can be used to create more accurate and robust long-range water demand forecasts. Some of these best practices include accounting for water conservation and efficiency improvements and land use changes, as well as ensuring transparency and meaningful stakeholder engagement.

A Review of the SFPUC’s Retail and Wholesale Customer Water Demand Projections

Pacific Institute | July 26th, 2007

In an effort to satisfy the future water needs of its wholesale customers, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) commissioned a series of comprehensive as

In an effort to satisfy the future water needs of its wholesale customers, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) commissioned a series of comprehensive assessments on the area’s future water demand, conservation potential, and recycled water potential. Based on these studies, the SFPUC projects that by 2030, the total water demand of its wholesale and retail customers will increase by 14%, or 33 million gallons per day (mgd). To meet this projected demand, the SFPUC proposes to divert an additional 25 mgd from the Tuolumne River. In response to the SFPUC’s proposal, the Tuolumne River Trust asked the Pacific Institute to independently review the SFPUC wholesale and retail customer demand projections along with the companion re-ports on water conservation and recycled water. Our analysis reveals that the SFPUC’s studies are inadequate. They may significantly overestimate future regional demand for water. Furthermore, they underestimate the potential for cost-effective demand management and recycled water.

Agricultural Water Use Efficiency (Resource Management Strategy)

Department of Water Resources | July 29th, 2016

The agricultural water use efficiency strategy describes the use and application of scientific processes to control agricultural water delivery and use to achieve a benef

The agricultural water use efficiency strategy describes the use and application of scientific processes to control agricultural water delivery and use to achieve a beneficial outcome. It includes an estimation of net water savings or increased production resulting from implementing efficiency measures as expressed by the ratio of output to input, resulting benefits, and strategies to achieve efficiency and benefits.

Annual Report Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 State Fiscal Year 2017-2018

California State Water Resources Control Board | December 30th, 2018

The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), Division of Financial Assistance (DFA) presents the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) annua

The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board), Division of Financial Assistance (DFA) presents the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) annual report for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2017-18. The State Water Board provided approximately $707 million in new CWSRF financing to 44 projects in SFY 2017-18, which represent a wide variety of projects eligible under the CWSRF. This report describes how the State Water Board met the objectives identified in the SFY 2017-18 CWSRF Intended Use Plan (IUP). 

Assessment of California's Water Footprint

Pacific Institute | December 11th, 2012

The Pacific Institute has released the first comprehensive assessment of California’s water footprint, providing an important perspective on the interconnections betwee

The Pacific Institute has released the first comprehensive assessment of California’s water footprint, providing an important perspective on the interconnections between everyday activities and impacts to water resources – both at home and around the world. The new report, California’s Water Footprint, analyzes the state’s water footprint – that is the amount of water required to produce the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the beverages we drink, and the other goods on which we rely. The water footprint of the average Californian is 1,500 gallons per day, slightly less than the average American but considerably more than the average resident in other developed countries or in the rest of the world.

California Agricultural Production and Irrigated Water Use

Congressional Research Service | June 30th, 2015

California ranks as the leading agricultural state in the United States in terms of farm-level sales.  In 2012, California’s farm-level sales totaled nearly $45 billio

California ranks as the leading agricultural state in the United States in terms of farm-level sales.  In 2012, California’s farm-level sales totaled nearly $45 billion and accounted for 11% of total U.S. agricultural sales. Five counties—Tulare, Kern, Fresno, Monterey, and Merced—rank among the leading agricultural counties in the nation. Given current drought conditions in California, however, there has been much attention on the use of water to grow agricultural crops in the state. Depending on the data source, irrigated agriculture accounts for roughly 40% to 80% of total water supplies. Such discrepancies are largely based on different survey methods and assumptions, including the baseline amount of water estimated for use (e.g., what constitutes “available” supplies). Two primary data sources are the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).  USGS estimates water use for agricultural irrigation in California at 25.8 million acre-feet (MAF), accounting for 61% of USGS’s estimates of total withdrawals. DWR estimates water use withdrawals for agricultural irrigation at 33 MAF, or about 41% of total use. Both of these estimates are based on available data for 2010. These estimates differ from other widely cited estimates indicating that agricultural use accounts for 80% of California’s available water supplies, as reported in media and news reports. Attention has also focused on trends in California toward growing more permanent orchard crops, such as fruit and nut trees and vineyard crops, as well as production of grain and pasture crops, much of which is used to support the state’s meat and dairy industries. Orchard crops refer to tree or vineyard crops that are planted once, require continuous watering to reach maturation, and cannot be fallowed during dry years without loss of investment. In contrast, most vegetables and other row crops (including grain and pasture crops) are annual crops that are sown and harvested during the same production year, sometimes more than once, and may be fallowed in dry years. Between 2004 and 2013, overall harvested acres in California increased for almonds, walnuts, pistachios, raisins, grapes, berries, cherries, pomegranates, and olives, but also for corn. During the same period, overall harvested acreage decreased for some field crops (cotton, alfalfa, rice, wheat), but also for certain orchard crops (wine grapes and some citrus and tree fruits). This shift to growing more permanent crops, especially tree nuts, appears to be largely market-driven. The availability of irrigation water has been a major factor in the development of California’s agricultural production. California has the largest number of irrigated farmed acres compared to other states and accounts for about one-fourth of total applied acre-feet of irrigated water in the United States. Water use per acre in California is also high compared to other states. Available data for 2013 indicate that, of total irrigated acres harvested in California, about 31% of irrigated acres were land in orchards and 18% were land in vegetables. Another 46% of irrigated acres harvested were land in alfalfa, hay, pastureland, rice, corn, and cotton. Congressional interest in California agriculture and water use centers largely on the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project (CVP), which supplies water to numerous agricultural and municipal contractors. In recent years, the CVP has cut back water deliveries due to drought and environmental factors. Congress also authorizes and oversees U.S. Department of Agriculture support for individual crops and farmers, and some Members have expressed concern over the broader implications of decreased agricultural production and/or lack of water availability throughout the state.

California Single Family Water Use Efficiency Study

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 20th, 2011

The California Single Family Home Water Use Efficiency Study includes data from many traditional sources such as billing data, survey data, weather data and aerial photo

The California Single Family Home Water Use Efficiency Study includes data from many traditional sources such as billing data, survey data, weather data and aerial photo information to analyze the water use patterns of a sample of over 700 single-family homes across ten water agencies throughout the State of California. Detailed flow trace data was obtained from portable data loggers which were attached to the water meters of each of the study homes. These flow traces provided flow readings at ten second intervals from the magnetic pickup, which generate 80-100 pulses per gallon. These highly detailed flow data make it possible to identify individual water use events and to categorize them by their end-use. The flow trace data tell not just how many gallons per day the home used, but how many gallons per day were used for individual end uses such as toilet flushing, clothes washing, dishwashers, showers, irrigation, faucets and leaks. Detailed use information can be pulled from the trace, giving for example, a count of toilet flushes and toilet flush volumes during a logging period. Researchers used flow trace data to determine levels of daily use in the homes and the efficiency of that use. Although the flow trace technique contains marginal error, such as from the mis-categorization of some events, it provides information on end uses-that is not available from any other source. This report summarizes the results of the study which began in 2005 and was completed in 2010. Water use patterns found during the 2007 logging period were analyzed to show how much potential remains for conservation savings from both indoor and outdoor efforts. 

California Water Resilience Portfolio

State of California (California) | July 28th, 2020

California Water Solutions Now

Environmental Water Caucus | January 1st, 2011

California is in the grip of a water crisis of our own making. Like all problems that humans create, we have the potential to use the crisis as an opportunity to make pos

California is in the grip of a water crisis of our own making. Like all problems that humans create, we have the potential to use the crisis as an opportunity to make positive and long-lasting changes in water management. The crisis is not a water shortage – California has already developed sufficient water supplies to take us well into this century – the real crisis is that this supply is not used efficiently or equitably for all Californians, nor is it used wisely to sustain the ecosystems that support us. The opportunity – and the basis for our positive vision – is that economically and technologically feasible measures are readily available to provide the water needed for our future. Our vision includes providing clean water for families to drink, providing water to improve the environmental health of our once-magnificent rivers, recovering our fisheries from the edges of extinction, fostering healthy commercial and recreational fisheries and a thriving agricultural industry, ensuring that all California communities have access to safe and affordable drinking water, and contributing significantly to the state’s largest industries: recreation and tourism. This report documents numerous analyses of water efficient technologies and approaches that can save or reduce water consumption in urban areas by as much as 5 million acre-feet a year by 2030 compared with current trends – enough water to support population growth of almost 30,000,000 people. According to the California Water Plan Update 2009 and Department of Finance projections, the state’s population can be expected to increase by 22,000,000 over the next 40 years if current population trends hold. Clearly, a well-managed future water supply to take us to 2050 is within reach with the current supplies and with an aggressive water conservation program. In addition, still larger savings can be expected from agricultural water efficiencies, and some of this saved water could be available for urban consumption. All of the water conservation strategies discussed in this report are much less expensive than the new surface storage and conveyance projects being contemplated by state and federal agencies.