Inside California, they’re trying to get water from the north where there’s snow, rain, and big holding reservoirs, down to fertile Central Valley farms.
But then, there are all those people further south. Ordinarily, plenty to go around. Except in Central Valley, where most of our food comes from, farmers want to retain the right to flood water-hungry, but profitable crops like almonds, pistachios, alfalfa, and rice. At each step, there’s less to reach south.
Down in SoCal, they’re expanding housing out to dry regions, while some homeowners want to retain their god-given right to fill their swimming pools, and water lawns and golf courses.
Meanwhile, everyone’s drilling and drawing down aquifers, causing massive ground settling and literally brown water coming out of taps. These aquifers take tens of thousands of years to refill naturally.
Meanwhile, up north, some of that water needs to go into rivers so fish can swim upstream to spawn, then go back out to sea. There’s a whole industry and food supply chain that depends on it, as well as native tribes who have their own legal rights.
Tack on top of this, the whole ‘grandfather’ water right system, which is a bit like taxi medallions. Whoever got there first gets to draw as much unmetered water as they want upstream from everyone else. Farms that have those rights are worth millions.
SoCal has been lobbying for decades for a ‘peripheral canal’ to bypass farms and fisheries and just get all the water they want siphoned from the north. Governors have tried for decades to dance along that thin line without pissing off all the groups yelling at them. Newsom’s just the latest. Nothing will likely get resolved in the next four months. The lawsuits have been written and are ready to be filed. And yes, everyone has standing.
Add to all this, the interstate mess. We now have the Colorado River, where water is running low. Reservoirs and dams are running at all-time lows. Major hydroelectric dams are close to shutting down.
A bunch of states are fighting over who gets whatever water is there. Basically what Newsom has to deal with, multiplied by four states.
Technically, California has the same ‘grandfather’ rights over the Colorado River water, but these other states want all that rescinded and the Supreme Court to write new rules. Even if the rules are rewritten, California has the higher population count so it gets to argue it should get the largest share.
Desalination plants can help reduce demand along coastal areas, but that’s just a bandaid for one group. Everyone else inland still has the same issues.
This is a matter of life or death for a LOT of people. Unless, it’s resolved properly, it can lead to every state saying screw it and going their own way. Or worse.
Water nerd here. It’e a big messy ball of yarn: