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By For The Madera Tribune - Senator Dave Cogdill

For years, the Legislature has consistently chosen to ignore the state's pressing water-supply issues, despite every indication that a water shortage looms as the next major economic crisis.

All the while, the problem has grown larger. California's population is expected to grow by 500,000 to 750,000 people each year, with the greatest growth expected in Los Angeles and Riverside counties. Current projections show that we will need up to an additional 4 million acre-feet of water over the next 25 years to meet the increased demand. An acre-foot is the amount of water a family of four uses annually.

Additionally, experts at the state's Department of Water Resources project that California will lose 25 percent of its snowpack by 2050. Snowpack is nature's reservoir. With its decrease, we must find a way to store water for dry years and provide increased flood protection for wet years.

Nowhere are the stakes higher than in Southern California. Just 12 percent of the region's water needs are met by local groundwater supply; the remainder flows in from the north and the Colorado River.



Just One Option

How will Southern California fill the coming supply gap? It won't come from the Colorado River-the state already receives its maximum allotment. At some point, conservation will cease to be effective. That will occur after water has been rationed and people are no longer allowed to water their lawns or fill their swimming pools.

In reality, Southern California has just one source of water with some built-in flexibility-the water that flows from Northern California. Unfortunately, California's interdependent water system is only as good as its water-storage capacity, which is in no shape to shoulder the coming burden.

To fully address our state's complex and varied needs, it's imperative that we build sufficient groundwater and surface storage to meet tomorrow's needs.

There is also an immediate necessity for us to address the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As the hub of California's water system, water for nearly two-thirds of California's population flows through and is pumped out of the delta. Yet, the delta is immensely vulnerable. Recently, concerns about an endangered fish species caused the Department of Water Resources to cut drastically the amount of water being pumped out of the delta. That decision had a ripple effect on all the communities that rely on the pumped water.

Additionally, the delta is exceedingly susceptible to earthquakes. One large-magnitude earthquake could decimate the delta and the system used to convey water to Southern California.

For all these reasons, I introduced Senate Bill 59, the Reliable Water Supply Bond Act of 2008, and I continue to press the issue within the Legislature.



Essential Tools

Sponsored by Gov. Schwarzenegger, the measure authorizes the sale of $3.95 billion in general obligation bonds to fund vital water projects, including $2 billion for surface storage, $500 million for groundwater use and $1 billion for the delta. This proposal is part of the governor's Strategic Growth Plan for California.

This is the right course of action for all of California. The state needs a wide assortment of tools to deal with California's future water needs. Conservation, water-use efficiency, groundwater and surface-water storage, and improved conveyance are all integral components of an overarching water plan.

The only reason we will make it through what is the driest year in recorded history in Southern California is that there is water stored in reservoirs.

Without additional surface water storage, what will happen if we sustain a multiple-year drought? It's time for a comprehensive water plan that will secure, not jeopardize, our future.

Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, represents the 14th District.