Introduction to Water in California: Book Review

                Written by David Carle, ”Introduction to Water in California” is a book that was written to educate the public and bring to light the pressure issues regarding water rights and availability in California. The book spends its first few chapters highlighting the decorated history of California, from its early Native American residents and natural splendor, establishment of towns and cities during the California Gold Rush, and into the sprawling metropolis and agricultural center the state is today. The author used maps and diagrams to give the reader a sense of how large California is and the various climatic conditions present which would affect the amount of yearly precipitation in varying parts of the state. This data gives the reader an idea of why there is so much water being pumped to different parts of the state, the central valley area for example, receives 5-10” of rain per year yet is one of the primary crop production sites in the world. That minute amount of precipitation doesn’t satisfy the needs of all that agricultural land, millions and millions of gallons of water pumped from sources hundreds of miles away does.

                Californians have always had water issues, to satisfy the needs of the state, dams were built along rivers to create reservoirs to store water so that more would be available each year. As time went on, the demand continually increased and the number of dams increased. Eventually we reach present day were only a handful of rivers or streams remain free-flowing, and many of the rivers that do have dams have more than one. All of these dams essentially chocked the river systems, showing a dramatic decrease in flow rate and water levels year after year. Some waterways are only a fraction of what they were less than a hundred years ago, others have completely dried out and which has led to dust storms plaguing nearby residents. Entire ecosystems have been altered dramatically and possibly irreversibly in some areas. While sparse in precipitation, the central valley used to boast over 500,000 acres of wetlands due to snow melt run-off from streams, but due to dams and water mitigation, less that 0.01% of that wetland still exists. (Carle 71) Wildlife populations have suffered dramatic losses due to such changes. Several species of salmon have become endangered due to the dams and constricted water ways. The salmon are no longer able to make it up the river to their spawning grounds and the few that do risk being caught in the dams’ turbines. Chemical and temperature changes in the water due to interaction with the dam also throw off the homing instincts of the salmon to where they are unable to recognize their home waters.

                Much of California’s wealth and prosperity could be traced to its agricultural economy with markets stretching all over the globe. To keep up with an international demand, crops must be grown year round, a majority of the farmland being in the central valley area. With less than 10 inches of rainfall annually, the central valley and other agricultural sites created huge pressures on surrounding resources to ensure that the farmland has adequate water supplies year-round. With agriculture being one of the main primary causes for California’s water issues, the other is the ever increasing number of people populating the state. Since the Gold Rush, California’s population have bean growing exponentially. With this growth, the demand for water has rapidly outpaced the supply, local aquifers have been depleted because they could not recharge in time, hundreds of small streams lay barren because they have been dammed and used for water storage. Currently, California is steadily moving to a point of unsustainability and if immediate measures are not taken to decrease water use and increase efficiency, the effects on the environment and the state could be dramatic.

                I found this book to be quite interesting after re-reading it upon my return from my month long trip out west. After personally seeing all of California, observing how you could be traveling on a road in the southern part of the state where one side of the road is barren fields and the other side is lush and green farmland. My observations definitely gave me a better understanding of the author’s message. Our group traveled through farmland and along the Los Angeles Aqueduct, along roads with barren land on one side and lush farmland on the other. We personally viewed how farmers continually flood their crops knowing that it is a waste of water, but that there is no incentive to improve efficiency because the farmer’s water rights would be reduced if they did. Perhaps if a water banking system were implemented up to a maximum amount of allotted water would entice some farmers to make the transition to more efficient watering techniques. Our group was given a tour of the Moccasin Power plant which takes water from Hetch Hetchy near Yosemite National Park and distributes it to San Francisco. To ensure enough water is stored in case of excessive need, the Hetch Hetchy, Lake Eleanor, Cherry Lake, and Don Pedro reservoirs were established. We also saw just how much of an impact this years’ draught has had on the reservoirs and water supplies, seeing many small streams completely dried up. We witnessed the over-pumping that has occurred in just Lake Mead alone knowing that it is happening in dozens of other reservoirs that supply water to the state. From my time in California, I think that the state government needs to give individuals a reason to reduce their water consumption, provide assistance for farmers to transition to more efficient watering systems, and work on removing unnecessary dams to improve water flows and supplies all while managing the human growth within the state.

Reference

Carle, David. Introduction to Water in California. Berkeley: U of California, 2004. Print.