Optimal flood protection needs a balanced approach between what conservation can be done, storing more water under the ground or on the surface, and public leadership, with the lessons from Katina in the rearview mirror, should disregard the ideological ranting and get down to the business they are called to lead, protecting the public from disasters with the technology available.
An excerpt.
Editorial: Water's coming battle
Global warming will shape local debate
Published 12:01 am PDT Wednesday, July 12, 2006
A new report warning of global warming's effect on California highlights the different approaches for solving the problem of a shrinking water supply.
When it comes to calibrating water supply and demand, two opposing political philosophies rule. There is the concrete crowd that wants to increase supply. And there is a conservation crowd that seeks to lower the demand. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likened this to a "holy war" when he and legislators couldn't agree on a state bond for water and flood control challenges. He wasn't exaggerating. And the political gridlock, and its dangerous implications, might worsen as the Sierra snowpack starts to melt.
The new 338-page analysis by the California Department of Water Resources signals two colossal policy debates. First is the Sierra. These days in an "average" winter, the melting Sierra snow provides about 14 million acre-feet of water supply. As it slowly melts, it gets captured downstream by Central Valley reservoirs that can hold 24.5 million acre-feet of water. By 2050, however, the average snowpack is likely to diminish by more than a third.
