Get the Facts:
California’s Looming Water Crisis Issue Impact Paper: Environment

Climate Change
There are signs that our climate is changing. Warmer winters mean more precipitation will fall as rain and less as snow, reducing the amount of ‘natural’ water storage via snowpack and creating higher peak flood flows than our system is equipped to handle.

Most areas of California have experienced periods of drought over the past 20 years. Climate change may bring longer periods of drought. California needs a long term solution to guard against future water shortages.

Further, scientists estimate that global warming will cause sea level to rise by as much as three feet over the next 100 years, placing greater pressure on our Delta levee system and increasing the likelihood and impacts of levee failure.

Other Environmental Issues
The Delta has a host of environmental problems, including pollution, declining fish populations, non-native species, urban encroachment and levee vulnerability. Most environmentalists agree that the Delta cannot continue to supply fresh water for millions of Californians in its present state, let alone have the capacity to meet future demand.

Consider:

• In 2004, routine fish surveys in the Delta showed a decline in several species, including some already listed under the Endangered Species Act (both state and federal). Subsequent studies have confirmed the continued decline of these species, some even on the verge of extinction.

• Numerous species foreign to the Delta have been introduced – both deliberately and unintentionally – which has caused a host of problems. In fact, many of the new species are better adapted to the current environment of the Delta.

• The state’s current water delivery system, where fresh water is moved through Delta channels and pumped into canals that serve the Bay Area, southern California and the Central Valley is damaging the Delta’s ecosystem. The pumping system alters natural flows and puts additional strain on an ecosystem that already struggles to support native species. We must find solutions that will help restore the Delta to a more natural state, protecting fish and wildlife and affording more recreational opportunities for Californians.

The Delta’s environment includes:

• 500 different plant and animal species
• Salmon, striped bass, steelhead trout, American shad and sturgeon

Long Term Solutions Are Needed
With California’s environment continuously changing, we must find sustainable, long-term solutions to California’s water crisis. Sea level rise, diminishing snowpack and the deepening environmental crisis in the Delta all must be addressed.

Please join leaders from the state’s business community to explore the water problems and discuss possible solutions.

Sources:
California Department of Water Resources
California Chamber of Commerce
Public Policy Institute of California
Alameda County Water District

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