California Water Resilience Portfolio

State of 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.

California Water Supply And Demand: Technical Report

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) | February 10th, 2011

The California Water Supply and Demand Model (CWSD) examines the ways in which California’s water supply and demand are likely to be affected by climate change; its pur

The California Water Supply and Demand Model (CWSD) examines the ways in which California’s water supply and demand are likely to be affected by climate change; its purpose is to serve as a base for quantifying these impacts in economic terms. California’s water future is modeled under conditions of no adaptation to climate change, and under several projected water use adaptation scenarios taken from the literature; climate change adaptation scenarios include water used for energy, the urban or residential sector, and agriculture. The main CWSD compares key categories of water inputs and outputs on a month-by-month basis to capture seasonality in water availability. A supplementary model allows for the main model’s beginning surface reservoir storage to result from water supply and demand interactions over a stylized previous 100 years. Three areas of water use are both especially critical and vulnerable to climatic change: the energy, agriculture, and urban sectors. In the energy module, water demand is a based on different scenarios of coal, nuclear and renewable power use, conservation technology, state population trends, and projected temperatures. In the agriculture module, crop and animal water use by county is a function of projected summer temperatures by county. In the urban module, residential, industrial/commercial, and public water use are based on projected levels of socio-economic growth.

California's Central Valley Groundwater Wells Run Dry During Recent Drought

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | February 27th, 2020

Declining water tables are causing wells to run dry in California, but the prevalence and spatial distribution of wells that have run dry are not known beyond anecdotal a

Declining water tables are causing wells to run dry in California, but the prevalence and spatial distribution of wells that have run dry are not known beyond anecdotal and voluntary reports. Here, we apply a new, simple, and measurement‐driven method to calculate a localized water table; we show, for the first time using observations, that up to one‐in‐five wells now runs dry in California's Central Valley. The spatial distribution of wells identified as having dried up replicates hot spots of wells identified as having run dry in a voluntary reporting system, while also capturing impacts on groundwater wells that have not reportedly run dry. We assess the rates of drilling throughout the Central Valley and find, surprisingly, that domestic wells are being drilled deeper at a rate that exceeds agricultural wells across much of the central Central Valley. Because new groundwater wells are costly (i.e., $10,000 to $100,000), we suggest explicitly considering dry wells in groundwater sustainability planning to protect homes and farms from the loss of access to reliable water supplies in the future.

California's Fourth Climate Change Assessment Statewide Summary Report

Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) | August 27th, 2018

California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment (Fourth Assessment) advances actionable science that serves the growing needs of state and local-level decision-

California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment (Fourth Assessment) advances actionable science that serves the growing needs of state and local-level decision-makers from a variety of sectors. This cutting-edge research initiative is comprised of a wide-ranging body of technical reports, including rigorous, comprehensive climate change scenarios at a scale suitable for illuminating regional vulnerabilities and localized adaptation strategies in California; datasets and tools that improve integration of observed and projected knowledge about climate change into decision- making; and recommendations and information to directly inform vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies for California’s energy sector, water resources and management, oceans and coasts, forests, wildfires, agriculture, biodiversity and habitat, and public health. In addition, these technical reports have been distilled into summary reports and a brochure, allowing the public and decision-makers to easily access relevant findings from the Fourth Assessment. Click here for key findings brochure

California's Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future

Office of Governor Gavin Newsom | August 11th, 2022

California's Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 16th, 2022

California’s Climate Adaptation Water Strategy: An Analysis of Implications for Individual and Community Rights and Responsibilities

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 31st, 2009

The inevitable consequences of climate change will put some of California's people and communities more at risk than others. Because of location and a limited capacity to

The inevitable consequences of climate change will put some of California's people and communities more at risk than others. Because of location and a limited capacity to adapt, vulnerable populations may face profound and disproportionate harm. California's Climate Adaptation Strategy planners are seeking ways to address this potential harm. The California Adaptation Strategy (CAS) Working Groups are seeking to address the impact of climate change on the state’s vulnerable populations. This analysis therefore asks how California can create a policy environment for equitable adaptation processes and outcomes. This analysis begins with a literature review on equity issues in adaptation planning, then examines the Water Working Group’s draft climate adaptation strategies, and then presents the results of twenty-six expert interviews. Two key concerns in the development of adaptation policy that arise in this analysis are feedback loops between vulnerable communities and policymakers and direct access to resources to enable greater adaptive capacity. While this analysis looks closest at the Water Working Group’s strategies, it is anticipated that many of the findings will apply to the overall strategy.

California’s Flood Future: Recommendations for Managing the State’s Flood Risk

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | November 1st, 2013

California is at risk for catastrophic flooding that could have wide-ranging impacts due to the size of its economy and the number of people residing in the state. The St

California is at risk for catastrophic flooding that could have wide-ranging impacts due to the size of its economy and the number of people residing in the state. The State’s economy ranks ninth globally; therefore, the consequences associated with its potential exposure to property damage, economic harm, and loss of life are great. California is the nation’s most populous state, ranks third largest in land size, and has widely varying climates and topographies, all of which make developing one-size-fits-all solutions to flood risk management impracticable. In California, 20 percent of the almost 38 million residents live within 500-year floodplains (i.e., have a 0.2 percent chance of flooding in a given year). Four of the nation’s 15 largest cities are in California (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco), and all are at risk for some type of flooding. These factors make decisions regarding California’s flood risk management policies and financial investments vital to the State and the nation. This report, California’s Flood Future: Recommendations for Managing the State’s Flood Risk (Flood Future Report) presents an overview of the flood threats facing the state, approaches for reducing flood risk, and recommendations for managing California’s flood risk. The Flood Future Report is the first statewide report to be developed through collaboration between the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). As a joint report by the State and Federal governments, the document represents an unprecedented level of intergovernmental cooperation, including tribal entities.1 Additionally, this report would not have been possible without the participation of and information shared by more than 140 local flood management agencies. The Flood Future Report represents the first characterization of flood management activities and exposure to flood hazard throughout each county and hydrologic region of the state. This statewide assessment is intended to provide valuable information for local, State, and Federal decision makers as they chart California’s complex flood management future.

California’s Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 1st, 2015

The primary goal of California’s Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013 (California’s Groundwater Update 201

The primary goal of California’s Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013 (California’s Groundwater Update 2013) is to provide foundational information to improve the statewide and regional understanding of groundwater conditions and management programs. The set of data, information, and analyses developed by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) will help set the stage for future Bulletin 118 and California Water Plan updates, and help local and regional agencies plan for sustainable groundwater management by providing an on-going reporting of essential groundwater data, information, and analyses. A second goal is to identify data gaps and groundwater management challenges that are meant to serve as a guidepost for prioritizing future groundwater data collection and funding opportunities. The final goal is to develop a set of recommendations to improve groundwater management in California. Findings, data gaps, and recommendations were developed for the state as a whole and for each of the 10 hydrologic regions. Statewide findings, data gaps, and recommendations presented herein serve as a summary of those commonly identified at the regional level.