California must ration water to avoid drought disaster

THE most populous state in the US is bone dry, and time is running out to save it. Jay Famiglietti, a hydrologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the University of California, Irvine, put out a stark warning last week: start rationing water now to avoid disaster.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Famiglietti warned that the state is down to its last year of above-ground reserves, and that its groundwater backup is rapidly disappearing. “California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one,” he wrote, “except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain.” Groundwater is now a primary source of water, as the state experiences its fourth year of severe drought.

“California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought except praying for rain”

California has pumped 15 cubic kilometres out of its main aquifers every year since 2011, according to NASA satellite data. In some places, the ground is sinking at a rate of 30 centimetres a year as a result. No one even knows how the groundwater is being used, as the state has no policies to keep track of it.

Famiglietti also called for the speedier implementation of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the first law empowering local agencies to regulate and keep account of groundwater extraction. The act requires full sustainability by 2042. “By then, there may be no groundwater left to sustain,” he wrote.

This article appeared in print under the headline “California’s thirst”