Saul Steinberg’s View of California’s Drought
A few weeks ago, I was in Silicon Valley sharing a market landscape report on California’s water business to a full room of Japanese business leaders. Once we finished our discussion, naturally, we went for sushi. During our lunch, my Japanese colleagues disclosed that they had received a similar report from a big, brand consulting firm in New York City and the difference between my perspective and their viewpoint was, shall we say, the difference between wet and dry.
It made me reflect… while most of the United States enjoys an unlimited natural supply of water, it must seem downright foreign to anyone who does not live in the Golden State to comprehend how water is viewed “totally” different. It reminded me of Saul Steinberg’s iconic March 29, 1976 cover of The New Yorker.
California’s water systems are both highly interconnected and also highly decentralized, and it stands to reason that solutions to the unprecedented challenges faced by California water suppliers at this time will also be complex and inter-related, such as:
- water supply & quality
- infrastructure demands
- funding constraints
- environmental impact
As you may (or may not know) there are three main sources of water that sustain California:
- Mountain snow pack
- Water stored in reservoirs
- Water pumped from underground aquifers
Basically, California is at the mercy of Mother Nature. And she’s not being very generous these days.
In a state with a land area of 159,000 square miles and water covering an additional 7,800 square miles — the public water agencies, water boards and investor-owned, private water companies must adapt and be more creative on how to deploy Liquid Gold across three micromarkets: Northern, Central and Southern California.
Not new to water scarcity, Californians have existed under a mandate and state law created in 2009 to reduce urban water use 20% by the year 2020. All of California’s water entities are joined together in managing water carefully during California’s frequent and ongoing droughts, including compliance with the water-use restrictions mandated by the many layers of government oversight.
When the Governor first declared a drought emergency in January 2014, all three of California’s natural water resources had been depleted. Three consecutive dry years have left empty reservoirs across California. That emptiness cannot be filled by several typical winter storms or even a particularly powerful rainfall lasting a week. The Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) state climatologist estimates that 150% of average precipitation for all of Water Year 2015 would be needed for California to have a good chance at exiting the drought.
California’s drought has already cost utility ratepayers $1.4 billion
Droughts wreak havoc on water systems, in turn, straining water providers and the local community. Water pipelines are bursting in record numbers causing structural damage and resulting in tremendous financial consequences for utilities and the communities. Basic physics — during extended periods of drought, the soil surrounding buried water pipelines dries and shrinks in the summer, and freezes and expands in the winter, causing water pipes to shift and develop leaks. If the water main is old or in a structurally deficient condition — typically the case — the changing ground conditions make the water main even more susceptible to leaks or failures.
Exacerbating the situation, is California’s perennial population growth, particularly the “America 2050 MegaRegion” of Southern California. This growth places greater demands on groundwater supplies, impacts groundwater quality, and creates challenges for dealing with new or increased wastewater discharges, often to environments having limited assimilation capacity. Population growth also drives the need for new infrastructure or the updating of existing infrastructure.
Here’s yet another interesting perspective on our infrastructure from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It would seem California’s water scarcity issues demand an intense focus on fixing leaks in an aging infrastructure throughout California and then perhaps we can take these lessons nationwide.
I wonder what type of view Mr. Steinberg would draw of California’s drought.
