Not that EAC

The SCVWD Board has a number of advisory committees that consider issues relating to different aspects of the District’s activities and “assist the Board by preparing policy alternatives and implications for Board deliberation.” The Environmental Advisory Committee met tonight. District staff gave a very interesting presentation on the outlook for water supply storage and conveyance. Storage, in this context, means reservoirs and groundwater basins, while conveyance mainly means creeks, but also canals and pipes.

It was a very sobering presentation. Water that travels through the Delta makes up half of our supply here, and the Delta is in a crisis. All of the District’s long-range planning has been predicated on building on the base of our current supplies, and a large part of those supplies is in danger. Climate change is another looming threat; the biggest (and dam-free) reservoir of all is the Sierra snowpack, and a warmer climate means less snow, melting earlier.

Can we conserve and recycle our way out of this? Conventional wisdom says no, but I don’t think California has ever gone as far as it can in this direction. Of course, we have to watch out for perverse incentives, as in the case of North Carolina residents who went to unprecedented lengths to save water late last year, only to be hit by water rate increases to make up for the drop in sales revenue.