Paper Example on California's Water Crisis: Drought, Urbanization and Loss of Wetland

Water is essential for life for every individual, and the overall survival of people is anchored on their access to safe water. In the recent past, California has been battling the adverse effects of drought (Carle 122). Many swamps across the State have been undergoing landfill processes to pave the way for rapid urban development. Worse still, many people have converted the wetland into farmland to provide food for the ever-growing California's population. Despite its growth in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, the consequences have been largely felt in the State as dams have significantly affected the natural flow of water (Carle 127). Also, the quality of water has been affected by increased ranching, agriculture, and mining activities. Understandably, the climatic changes such as unpredicted drought and floods have substantially affected the water management in California. The paper will explore the California's emerging water crisis in relation to the supply and storage. Also, the paper highlights how the influx of people into the State has led to increased water use and whether the policies that it has taken to address the situation.

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The present State of the water supply has been unpredictable in California. It is worth noting that the water supply in California has been significantly disrupted by adverse climatic changes such as long droughts and wildfires that have been hitting the State. In the recent past, the State Water Project Aqueduct used to allocate water to farmers to meet their irrigation needs (Carle 132). However, the recent dry conditions in the State have led to close to zero allocation of water to the farmers. Also, the land-disputes have been attributed to the problems of water supply in California (Mehta et al. 70). California has been having water supply challenges because of the increased population and structural problems that have impeded the effective flow of water to where the people need it.

Notably, the water supply is mostly affected by many factors including the increased population in Southern California. Additionally, the water crisis in the State has been negatively affected by the slow development of the water system's infrastructure, such as the building of better dams, canals, and reservoirs, among others (Mehta et al. 72). Moreover, the competing needs for water have been heavily linked to the water supply challenges in the State, where increased urban development, expansion of agricultural activities, and aquatic life has been competing for water for centuries. Also, the prolonged seasons of dry conditions have resulted in the water supply challenges in California (Carle 136). Furthermore, the private and public sectors have failed to make an effort to ensure that the inherent challenges of the water situation in California are amicably addressed to meet the rising needs for healthy ecosystems. Despite the increased pumping of groundwater to meet the needs of urban life, there are no proper programs to ensure that the underground water basins are recharged.

The primary source of water in California is precipitation and the groundwater always complements it, recycled, and imported water. Also, groundwater forms a significant part of California's water. It should be noted that groundwater provides more than 40% water supply to California with the cities within the State, relying on it to supply drinking water (Carle 139). However, in the recent past, the underground water has been over-withdrawn with no proper plan of recharging, and this has resulted in a rapid decline of the groundwater supplies. Additionally, California's water comes from locally developed sources through the use of contemporary strategies and technologies (Taylor et al. 310). The Nevada Mountain is a critical source of water for California. Many lakes and rivers are dependent on the snowmelts from the mountain, which ultimately empty water into San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers.

The history of precipitation in California has been characterized by great variation. Notably, California's precipitation often falls between October and April, which are the cool season months in the area considering the fact the climate of California is the Mediterranean. The California Department of Water Resources always uses a precipitation index to establish the amount of precipitation that has been received by the Sacramento River (Mehta et al. 76). Furthermore, the heavy precipitation that mostly hit the State is attributed to winter storms originating from the Pacific Ocean. It is instructive to note that the climatic change is expected to result in significant changes in precipitation in California. The developed climate models have indicated that the State of California will gravitate towards warm conditions (Seager et al. 475). Understandably, the temperature increase is expected to result in more precipitation in the form of rain rather than snow and this will disrupt the usual flow of rivers in California.

California's water is majorly stored in the reservoirs and through the replenishment of underground aquifers. These storage methods are considered to be the best as they will help in addressing the prolonged drought in the State. Santa Clara Valley District has been playing an integral role in supplying water and implementing programs that are geared towards flood protection at Santa Clara County. Notably, there are more than ten reservoirs that are operated by the Santa Clara Valley District. The storage capacity of the reservoirs is estimated to be 170,000-acre-feet (Carle 143). Also, the reservoirs help in providing flood protection through trapping of runoff during the rainy season. More importantly, Santa Clara Valley District operates water treatment plants that, at the initial stages, help in removing solid particles from the water that originates from the Sierra-Nevada Mountains (Taylor et al. 314). Ozone disinfection is often utilized in disinfecting the water to remove bad taste and odors. In the last stages of the water processing, the water is filtrated and ultimately taken for final disinfection.

The water policy in the State of California has been significantly influenced by the State's size and shape. The Central Valley in California extends to the northern and central parts of the State. The Valley is surrounded in the east and west by Sierra-Nevada and Coast Range Mountains, respectively. The irrigation districts of the Valley have devised water policies and programs that are geared towards the storage of runoff water into the aquifers for future use (Seager et al. 479). The shape of California has resulted in the need to formulate water policies that will be instrumental in allocating water to different parts of the State. Also, the connection between the California Aqueduct and Friant-Kern Canal by the Cross Valley Canal allows for the delivery of water into the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta.

California has not been in sole control of the water policy in the State. It is worth noting that the water policy requires a collective effort to ensure that the issue of water supply is adequately trained. State Water Resources have been playing an integral role in formulating policies to help in reducing water usage in urban areas by 25% (Taylor et al. 322). Understandably, environmentalists and agriculturalists have been working together with the State administration to ensure that contemporary building systems and plans are developed to assists in conserving water in California. Moreover, the need for increased storage and desalinization of water has been pursued by multi-agencies to solve the water crisis in the State (Sicke et al. 292). Additionally, the occurrence of natural phenomena such as prolonged droughts and incidental floods caused by climate change has reduced California's control of the water policy. The State cannot influence climate change, which is a global concern.

In the recent past, there has been an increased need for water and this has resulted to large-scale desalinization within the State of California. Desalinization is usually carried out to remove dissolved minerals from the water. Notably, it is projected that there will be increased desalinization by around 20% in the coming decades to generate 700 million gallons of water (Carle 147). Furthermore, the adoption of modern membrane technology that is more effective and durable than the old models, which were costly. Additionally, the desalinization of seawater has been relatively expensive compared to that of the underground water. The Carlsbad Desalinization plant is the largest in California, and it is responsible for the creation of more than 10% of the State's freshwater (Seager et al. 480). Also, California has been making much effort to ensure that there is increased water supply to meet the needs of the increased population. The State pursues this through the construction of a similar plant at Huntington to provide 50 million gallons of water daily to the people of California (Sicke et al. 298).

The climatic change that has resulted in prolonged drought has resulted to a possibility of importing water from other water surplus areas. Drought and increased population has particularly led to the decline of water supply in California, and it is projected that the State will focus on importing water to meet the increased demand. Furthermore, the expansion of the agricultural industry in the State has led to the strain of the available water, and this has resulted in the need for the importation of water from water surplus areas such as the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Colorado River Aqueduct (Carle 151). It is worth noting that the State has invested heavily in the engineering aspect of water supply, where modern reservoirs have been built to ensure that there is adequate water supply within the State. Also, the State has legislated vital laws that are aimed at developing strategies that can be instrumental in collecting the runoff during the rainy season.

The increased population often strains the water usage within the State of California. People, directly and indirectly, depend on water to continue surviving in the world.. In the recent past, there has been increased urban development in the State, and this has translated to an increased population (Sicke et al. 296). California's population is expected to increase to close to 44 million by the year 2030 and this undoubtedly will increase the competition for water by growing the agricultural industry (Mehta et al. 78). Additionally, the increased numbers of people in California will most likely result in water pollution and conflicts where people will be fighting to control the important water reservoirs in the State. Moreover, the increased population will need food, and this will create the need to expand the agricultural and manufacturing industry, which will heavily depend on water to operate efficiently and effectively.

California has established urban water agencies to submit the amount used by the average person within the State. Notably, the data submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB revealed that average Californians utilize about 85 gallons of water daily. Understandably, water usage always rises during summer, where the daily usage can reach 109 gallons per every Californian (Seager et al. 482). It is worth noting that the State has developed a new policy where the average person in California will be required to use 55 gallons of water daily to help in addressing the recent water crisis in the State, which has been occasioned by climate change (Carle 153). The policy has been beneficial in motivating the Californians to conserve water.

Conclusion

The influx of population into the State of California has been widely linked to the water crisis that has, in the recent past, hit the State. California can ensure t...