League of Women Voters of California (LWVC) has studied and advocated for water issues since the late 1950s. Water management of this crucial resource has an even older history with the League. Our involvement in water issues has arisen partly because of California’s varied hydrology; years of adequate rainfall can be followed by periods of drought.
We find that after our years of study and advocacy, sustainable water management in California is inadequate to confront the current crisis of climate change and rising sea levels. We hope to enlist our members and the public in an effort to take actions to mitigate this crisis. The need is urgent. We have no time to lose. We need your help.
To help you understand California’s water system and water policy, the LWVC Water Committee has a series of articles written for lay folks. The articles written to date are linked (red underlined). Just left double-click on the link.
California's Water: Sharing Our Knowledge – Introduction to the series on California's water.
Water is Related to Everything – How water links to energy, health, environmental justice, agriculture, recreation, and so much else.
California Plumbing – Water projects, surface water, local sources and groundwater, as well as the misalignment of promised water vs. available water.
The Water-Energy Nexus – Moving, heating, and treating water and treating wastewater all together represent one of California’s largest end uses of electricity and of natural gas.
Managing the Water Under Our Feet – Groundwater drawdown, recharge, and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Water Reuse: Many New Sources – Instead of using potable water for everything, we can reuse and recycle much of our water.
Desalination – Not just seawater, but also brackish and recycled water can be desalinated. Also new methods make desalination of recycled water much less expensive and offer additional benefits.
The Cheapest Water: Conservation – Rather than using water that continues to cost more, just conserving water, as we did well in the drought, offers huge benefits.