(The Center Square) – The legislator who wrote a law modernizing California's water infrastructure says there's no concrete estimate for the cost to respond to worsening drought conditions.
In a press conference held Friday morning at the San Luis Reservoir in western Merced County, Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced County, author of last year’s successful Senate Bill 72, said there is no way to know the cost of developing 90 million acre-feet of water by 2040.
Her bill, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in October, is being implemented and requires the California Department of Water Resources to formulate long-term water supply goals.
“Frankly, we don’t know what the cost will be to meet that goal,” Caballero said, answering a question from The Center Square at the end of the press conference. “It’s speculative to say it’s a certain amount. Will it be expensive? Yes.”
Caballero added she's proposing a bond that could pay for implementing much-needed updates to the state’s water plan.
Meanwhile, certain water infrastructure projects in California have already cost billions of dollars.
A project by the federal Bureau of Reclamation to raise Shasta Dam by 18 feet was allocated $2 billion of federal taxpayer money through 2034. The Delta Conveyance Project, which proposes to construct a 45-mile-long tunnel underground to help capture storm runoff that runs into the ocean, would cost an estimated $20 billion to $50 billion a year to operate, according to the California Policy Center.
Despite the enormous price tag, scientific studies show that climate change, which scientists say exacerbates problems related to the state’s water supplies, is getting worse.
A 2019 study by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego shows that climate change drove worsening forest fires in California between 1972 and 2018. Research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that higher temperatures fueled by climate change caused 61% of the state’s water supply evaporating during the 2020-2022 drought. Only 39% of the drought’s severity was accounted for by reduced rainfall during that time frame, the study shows.
“We anticipate, right now, in 2026, that when we go up into the Sierra Nevada and we do our snow survey on April 1, we will have almost no snowpack,” Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, said during the press conference. “We are trending towards the second-lowest snowpack in modern California history. That’s where we are.”
Nemeth added that warming temperatures will reduce the state’s snowpack further by 2040. Increased droughts will also require the state to more responsibly manage its water, she added.
“When we have drought conditions, drought conditions don’t require us to be in a state of emergency,” Nemeth said. “I think Californians are getting a little weary of whenever it turns dry, we kick into a state of emergency in California, and it’s really up to all of us to do the work that’s necessary to provide that stability into the future.”
More efficient water use, recycling water and investing in water infrastructure the state has already built are necessary to be prepared for the worsening climate conditions state officials anticipate, Nemeth and others said on Friday.
“Instead of managing for drought and scarcity of supply, the state will work towards the water supply target of 90 million to ensure we have enough water for our communities, industry, agriculture, the environment and every Californian,” Fern Steiner, chair of the California Water Commission, told reporters Friday.
Republican lawmakers, who were not present during the press conference at the San Luis Reservoir, said they supported modernizing the state's water supply, especially in light of prolonged drought conditions, aging infrastructure and increasing wildfire risk.
“SB 72 helps move us in the right direction by establishing reasonable water supply targets and ensuring the state properly plans for future water needs," Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, told The Center Square in an email Friday afternoon. "By modernizing the California Water Plan for a 21st-century climate and requiring state agencies to work collaboratively with local water providers and stakeholders, we can create a more reliable and resilient water system for generations to come."
