A congressional subcommittee heard testimony Monday on the complexity of California’s water system and how to stabilize that system for future drought cycles.

Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, the chair of the House Subcommittee on Water and Power, conducted the oversight field hearing in the Metropolitan Water District board room in Los Angeles.

Three panels of expert witnesses testified how the state’s water system has failed water users ranging from farmers to fishermen to urban communities.
“We need to change the way we think about water,” Napolitano said. “The public has to be informed and educated so that they know the facts and realize that we have to look to new solutions for our future.

“Growing population and climate change mean that we need to continue to install water conservation, recycling and reuse measures as a safety net for times when water is tight.”

Napolitano said it was clear from the testimony that the state’s water system is not up to the task of providing cheap, reliable water in times of drought. Looking to the future, witnesses identified long-term trends of population growth and climate change that require new measures in conservation, water recycling and reuse to make the state’s water supply more stable.

“By 2050, scientists project a loss of at least 25 percent of the Sierra snowpack,” said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources. Speaking about a critical source of water for the state that fills streams and underground aquifers, he said “Our new reality is that we must manage a resource characterized by uncertainty and vulnerability due to climate change.”

The hearing was held following four days of rain in Southern California the previous week but talk still centered around drought conditions that have plagued this part of the state for several years.

“Drought in California is a fact of life,” said Lucy Dunn, president of the Orange County Business Council. “Drought will return, and without investment the effect will be to hurt the quality of life and economic competitiveness of the state.”

“We have to do the most effective, most cost-effective things first,” said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute and an expert on water issues. “Improving the efficiency of our water use is the cheapest, easiest, fastest and least destructive way to meet California’s current and future water supply needs.”

The hearing was held in Southern California due to the success local water agencies have had in dealing with drought. The city of Los Angeles cut its water usage by 18.4 percent last summer, its lowest water usage in 18 years at a time when its population had increased by 500,000 people.

San Diego and Riverside counties reduced their water usage by 13 percent, and the city of Long Beach reduced its usage 21 percent from its 10-year average.

“Here in Southern California, local governments and agencies have responded by partnering with state and federal agencies to achieve tremendous reductions in per capita water use," said Mike Connor, commissioner in the Bureau of Reclamation for the U.S. Department of the Interior. “We know that an emphasis on water conservation is key to the sustainability of the state of California.”

“Despite the welcome recent rains and the good effort on local conservation, the underlying crisis remains and will be readily apparent in the months and years ahead,” said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Summing up the hearing, Napolitano said: “It is clear that there is a critical role in California for assistance from Congress. We have listened to experts, government officials and people whose livelihoods rely on the cheap flow of water and will continue to do so. With this knowledge we can work on behalf of California to support a more efficient water system that provides cheap, reliable water even in times of drought.”