that we’re talking about a shift in these extreme events.
Davis: I think we have started to realize that not all water is equal. This is where the investments in recycled water, the investments in desalting and the investments in groundwater cleanup, what you’re really looking for are water assets that are going to be more sustainable because they’re not dependent on that year’s precipitation. With recycled water, for example, dur- ing a drought, people are continuing to use their bathrooms and that water is being treated and it’s available. The thinking that’s going to go into dealing with the vulner- ability particularly in the extended droughts is going to be much more
bined with stormwater management combined with having Sacramento River-friendly landscaping, Bay Delta- friendly landscaping, people up and down the state of California whether it’s a river-friendly program or an ocean-friendly program. You’re seeing a convergence of messaging to particu- larly the residential, but also industrial and commercial outdoor water users about what they can do to be more effi cient and more sustainable and environmentally friendly. And a lot of the actions are the same.
Watch ACWA’s Save Our Water video.
strategic and targeted about what’s the best combination of resources. Particu- larly the local resources that we can have control over, that are going to be there to help work through and sustain us through these long-term droughts. You’re going to see changes in the way people use water in their landscaping. Up and down California you already see the shift. We’re not going to have as many lawns and this is going to help keep more water in the ground or in storage. If you have an extended drought the landscaping piece is going to get pushed harder and faster. Look at residential water usage. Up and down the state 60, 70, sometimes in some areas 80 percent of the water use in the residential sector is literally for outdoor landscaping. And there’s going to be a whole different conversation about how we manage water in this new climate changed era.
Pitzer: Do you think Californians under- stand they have to be smarter and wiser with their water use?
Davis: Yes, I do but I also think there’s a lot more that we can do. What I see emerging right now, which is going to be fascinating actually, is the water conservation, outdoor effi ciency com-
January/February 2013
In the next 10 years, you’re going to see a lot of conversations about what I call “Door Number One, Door Number Two or Door Number Three” politics. Whatever the reason for improving
water management – it could be water quality or it could be climate change, it could be water effi ciency, there’s a convergence about the actions that are the right thing for people to do. And it’s going to bring the public into partnership with water agencies, the cities and communities about how to make these improvements. A lot of it is about changing habits and evolving tastes and realizing that these water saving landscapes actually have lower maintenance once you set them up. A lot of this stuff pencils out in fairly short order for people. You are using fewer pesticides and fewer excess fertilizers and that’s good for the watersheds too.
McClurg: When you talk about politics, I was struck because the folks on the Colorado River talk about how even as the administration in Washington changes, they don’t feel that has that much of an impact on their abilities as states to come to these agreements. I don’t sense that in California. I sense it’s still very much a partisan political party kind of fi ght with respect to water.
Hanak: With respect to water, I just don’t see it as much as a partisan thing as it is different regions of the state and
“If you look at human water use in California from the late ’60s to the recent years, agriculture and urban uses – including industry, residential, commercial – we are now using half as much water per capita as we were in the late ’60s.”