California's Water Supply Outlook is Serious Business

Over the years, it has become increasingly evident that water use efficiency is absolutely essential for sustaining adequate and reliable water supplies for southern California.  With the Colorado River recovering from an 11-year drought, the uncertainty of a long-term fix for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, and increased population growth; California faces even more serious long-term water supply reliability challenges than during the drought of the early 1990s.

The volatile hydrology is also seemingly complicating conservation messaging because in the short-term a good water year may provide abundant supplies that may infer to the public a false sense of long-term reliability.  In addition, the increasing costs of conveying and treating water supplies, and replacing aging infrastructure are requiring water purveyors across the state to implement viable and cost-effective solutions to these issues.  For a highly urbanized area such as Anaheim, water use efficiency continues to be the most viable and cost-effective approach to ensuring reliable water supplies for our customers.

For a map of California's river and water transportation system, you can click here. If you would like to learn more about options for delivering water to Southern California, you may be interested in this summary of a research study prepared by the Public Policy Institute of California.