Los Angeles Water Supply : Past And Future

One hundred and four years after the construction of the first aqueduct, Angelinos receive water receive water from “local groundwater and water imported through the State Water Project (SWP) and the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA)” (Department

The almost total development of California was made possible only because of two main water sources: surface water, or water that gathers on the ground, such as rivers and streams; and the groundwater, which is pumped out from the ground. The area also ignites interest on producing a small amount of desalinated water, which is still too expensive to be widely applied.

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

What if you had no water to bathe, wash dishes, or even drink? This is the future we face here in California if the state doesn’t act to conserve our water and ensure that it is wasted as little as possible. California is in its 3rd year of a debilitating drought, and many citizens, especially farmers are dangerously tapping more into an nonrenewable resource: groundwater. In light of the severity of current and future problems that have or will result from the depletion of the fast-emptying subterranean reserves of water, California’s Legislature has introduced a new bill designed to limit and control the use of groundwater, a decision that all other western states have already made. I believe that this new bill is necessary to prevent California

Organic ranchers and dairy farmers in California also feel the effects of the drought. They rely on green pasture to feed their animals a healthy diet. Due to the lack of rain, the pasture are drying up and the ranchers have to purchase supplemental organic hay from other states. In an attempt to fund the purchasing of this out of state hay, the organic farmers are selling herds to businesses for hamburger meat and the small

We all love water, but don’t know much about it. What I mean is that a lot of us don’t even know where our water comes from. That answer varies; for example, the city of Camarillo California gets its’ water in Camrosa Water District. It’s official website, “Camrosa Water District building Water Self- Reliance” provides information like what their purpose is, and as well as water conservation, building self-reliance, and other public information. This website states that Camrosa is currently in a state two water supply shortage. This means that there are restrictions on water use and a call for a voluntary fifteen percent reduction on the amount of water consumption. Also, according to Camrosa “Agricultural Water Management Plan”, water is being

With the abundance of clean water in Seattle, civilians would go into shock if they suddenly lost access to the utility. The fictional events in the film Tambien la Lluvia take place during the Cochabamba Water Wars, in which the city government of Cochabamba dramatically raised the rates of water bills by over 35%, which sparked violent riots among the lower class. This film explores a question that concerns our environment’s limited resources: How and should the world ration and conserve fresh water?

Fresno is a city located in central California, also known as San Joaquin Valley Famously knows for its grape field and green trees. Known for where the immigrants came to work, by picking grapes making little to know money. Every year I go back to visit my home town about twice a year, each time we get near the grape vine which is located between Fresno and Las Angeles. The first thing that is noticed by the eye is the magnificent greenery and farm lands that can’t be passed without notice of its beauty. Every tree was full and rich looking to the roots and all around the ground would look moist and fully watered, without a doubt these farm lands where being taken care of. Recently in the past three years of taking the long exhausting drive from the dry lands of Tucson to the green lands of Fresno hasn’t been the same. The green lands of central valley are not as green as they once were. The grounds look dry and not as moist as before.

The state of California relies on groundwater that is obtained from either alluvial or fractured rock aquifers. The alluvial aquifers are characterized by having fine grained sediments, sand and/or gravel that contains water stored within the pore space (California Department of Water Resources California's Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013). Fractured rock aquifers store much less water and are made of impermeable granitic, metamorphic, volcanic, or sedimentary rocks that hold groundwater within the fractures or void spaces. Typically, the fractured rock aquifers are in mountainous and foothill areas (California Department of Water Resources California's Groundwater Update 2013: A Compilation of Enhanced Content for California Water Plan Update 2013).

In the early 1900s diverting water from the river through ditches was how the water supply was handled for the Los Angeles River. Since the population of Los Angeles was increasing there was something that needed to be done to manage the water supply and that’s why the dam was built. Around the same time a water company that was private gave away the city’s waterworks and began offering water to the city. Los Angeles took over the city’s water supply in 1902. Originally the Water Department was established but the name was eventually changed to Bureau of Water Works and Supply. In 1878 an employee by the name of William Mulholland was hired. Mulholland originally supervised the Los Angeles Aqueduct and at the time it was the longest aqueduct

Economically speaking, California depends on an extremely intricate network of water storage and delivery systems to supply the state’s cities, farms, businesses, and environment with sufficient water throughout the year. California’s water supply infrastructure has made it possible for the state to grow and prosper. Its highly seasonable precipitation and the fact that annual runoff can vary from year to year allows the state to move water when and where it is needed (California's Water: California Water Systems).

Water is essential to sustain life. It is becoming an ever more valuable resource every year as it becomes scarcer. The general problem is that California is in the midst of a severe drought. The specific problem is that the typical urban consumer has little knowledge of how to reduce their every day consumption of water. Urban usage accounts for approximately 5.7 million acre-feet per year, which equates to approximately 10% of California’s annual water supply in a year with normal precipitation (Burt, 2014). In this previous water year (October 1, 2013 - September 30, 2014) California experienced its driest year in 119 years (Ca.Gov/Water Conditions). Serious action needs to be taken immediately to reduce consumptive usage, especially in the case of urban consumption of water. Shakespeare famously said “I to the world am like a drop of water that in the ocean seeks another drop”. While each individual may believe their actions to be insignificant, in the bigger picture, California needs every drop it can get.

Main Claim: The state of California must prevent groundwater overuse by regulating groundwater use, making regulation telling farmers when and how to water crops, and improving aquifer water levels with new innovative technologies.

Every person is an expert in regards to water. We all know what thirst feels like. We all know how good it feels to take a nice, warm shower. The smell of rain is known to all. Despite our expertise and our familiarity with water, we actually do not know hardly anything about it. In order to truly understand water, we must learn about water itself and understand its life. We must ask and understand questions such as:

Fresh water is one of the basic needs of living things. Without water, we will be dehydrated to death. In fact, there will be no living thing will live without water. There is a serious water issues in California, which is drought. Drought affected the economy because the water price and food price increased. Also, Drought affected the society because there was less labor force and it affected the tourisms. Fortunately, there are 3 solutions that can solve the drought in California include water management for agriculture, government should create laws, and the government manage to create a system of canals and levees.