Before the last storm, we had barely over 2” of rain for the season as compared with 23” last year and a “normal” of 17.” Our risk of prolonged drought is real, but a study done recently that looked at the growth rings of old conifers that were submerged under cold water conditions for thousands of years (3,000) was very revealing. The water preserved the old-growth structures, and a ring study revealed a history of severe droughts lasting hundreds of years over the 3,000 year period.
A severe drought lasting a mere 10 years would undo California completely, and given our state’s role in food production, would adversely affect the whole world.
Many of us have been discussing water policy for a long time here, not wanting to wait until calamity hits. Unfortunately, we have not gained much traction. Eighty-five percent of the potable water in California is used by agriculture, including iceberg lettuce grown in the desert (Imperial Valley). Our industrial food model has driven and still drives state water policy, resulting in the construction of dams, huge water transport canal projects, tunnels, pumping stations and more.
The state’s water pumping infrastructure alone is the largest consumer of electricity in the state, literally lifting water over mountains. Meanwhile, the average household consumer is told to cut water use by 20 percent, as if saving 20 percent of non-agricultural water (just 15 percent of the total water used) will solve our problem. It’s bizarre!
Our local Sonoma County Water Agency, whose board of directors are the five county supervisors, has never intervened into local approval of a development application due to water issues; exercising such authority has generally been considered too hot a political issue for them to do so. If this drought goes on for another year, they will have no choice, but the problem runs so deep that, like climate change, the lack of regulation of water use has gone too far to correct without suffering the karma of past actions.
Here in Sonoma Valley, unregulated ground water extraction by agriculture for expanding vineyards and wine production, alongside increased well water use in general, has contributed to reduction of sub-ground water table pressure and consequent underground intrusion of brackish water from San Francisco Bay into our local aquifer. This salty ground water has spread, migrating over one mile up the Sonoma Valley in just the past 20 years. Many have spoken out and expressed concern about this issue, but at present only voluntary extraction policies have resulted. If the salt-water intrusion continues, many wells will become unusable.
Our society is short-sighted and unwilling to change until nature forces it to. Entrenched economic interests wedded to current policy spend millions lobbying legislators to ensure the continuation of the status quo. If this drought continues, which is highly likely, the damage to society is going to be huge and perhaps catastrophic. We would not be the first culture to collapse because of climate/water issues; it’s happened repeatedly in history including the 700-year Incan civilization in Central America. This is not a problem that will be solved by digital technology; it is a problem of taking water for granted and building society on the assumption of continued plentiful water.
So fine; I’ll shorten my showers. But I honestly worry for my grandchildren; in the case of drought there is precious little I can do to protect them.
