The State has just published “California’s Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter Drier Future” (August 2022). The strategy foreshadows major challenges for water suppliers and consumer alike, with wholesales changes promised in investment, water rights, curtailment, standards, supply management and overall costs. The Water Supply Strategy focuses on new data and technologies to light the path forward. Fortunately, Smart Water systems can arm waters suppliers and consumers with the data and analytical tools required to meet the challenges that lie ahead, and improve the performance and sustainability of your water supply.

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Water strategy in a nutshell

The Water Supply Strategy is a response to the Governor’s executive order to create a comprehensive Water Resilience Portfolio. The strategy is focused on “new data and accelerating climate change”. The four pillars of the Strategy are to:

• Create storage space for up to 4 million acre-feet (MAF) of water to capture water from large storms and meet demand during dry periods;

• Recycle and use a minimum of 800,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030, and reduce ocean discharges;

• Release up to 500,000 acre-feet of water through conservation and efficiency measures;

• Create new water sources by “capturing stormwater and desalinating ocean water and salty water in groundwater basins”.

The modernization of water systems and the capture and use of data and new technologies are the tools to achieve the strategic goals. The Strategy states that California water use for agriculture, urban and environmental purposes ranges from 60 to 90 million acre-feet per year and climate change could reduce availability by 10% in the 2030/2040 planning period.

The Strategy sets a target of “about 5 MAF” of improved water supply balance by 2030 and “about 7 MAF” by 2040. Expanded storage is expected to carry about two-thirds of the load to meeting these goals.

 

Major changes for water users

The Strategy foreshadows some important changes in the water supply environment.

1. In adopting “integrated use of data and technology”, water rights regulation will migrate to real time tracking of water use.

2. A state water conservation target of 15% is set. This will be supported by efficiency based targets.

3. Water rights laws will be “modernized” based on timely data and decision tools. The impacts will be transmitted through curtailment rights broadened to non-emergency years, water diversion priorities, and a “more equitable” fees rights system.

4. Enforcement of new regulations on water diversions will be strengthened.

5. In addition to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), changes in “cropping patterns” are to be implemented.

6. New water use efficiency standards will be advanced for agriculture producers as well as residential consumers.

7. Shrinkage of 500,000 to one million acres of farm and ranch land by 2040 is proposed to stabilize groundwater resources;

8. State and Federal water conveyancing infrastructure will be modernized in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, with a reference to storm waters, sea level changes, earthquakes, and “subsidence caused by over-pumping of groundwater, restricting the capacity to move water”.

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Call to action

The way to meet the challenges of the new Water Supply Strategy is to level the playing field: meet the State’s integrated use of data and technology with your real time data, technology and business analytics tools in a Smart Water System.

Curtailment of water rights and diversions, mandatory efficiency standards and conservation are regulatory challenges that Smart Water arms you to meet. In the process you can optimize the performance of your assets, extend their lifespan, reduce operating costs and increase asset values.

UAM’s Smart Water monitoring system provides users with a comprehensive suite of real time data and analytics on water depth, flows, and power. Use dashboards and alert/alarms to identify major operational changes such as salient drops in well flow, depth and power as well as unsafe operating conditions such as amp spikes, voltage imbalance, excess temperature and vibration (e.g. vibration harmonics) that help pinpoint problem areas.

To learn more about how you can improve your water system’s performance, please visit us at www.uamllc.com, download a White Paper and book a demonstration of our Smart Water Solutions.

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