Gov. Newsom should end ag’s water waste

With limited options for new California water sources, it’s time to stop wasting the precious supply we have.

Gov. Gavin Newsom should muster the political will to enforce Article X, Section II of the state Constitution that requires “reasonable and beneficial” use of the state's water supply. The current waste must not continue.

A handful of users are using water that drains from the Sierra as they see fit. As a result, the state's agriculture sector uses about 75% of the state's available water.

Almond growers alone account for about 10% of California's water use. Ten percent — just for almonds! Almond growers have tripled their orchard acreage from 400,000 acres in 1990 to 1.36 million acres in 2018.

While almond farmers have become more efficient in water use in recent years, it still takes about a gallon of water to grow a single almond in California. California almond growers harvested an estimated 2.5 billion pounds of almonds in 2018 and sent about 65% of their crop to India and China.

That's not a responsible use of our precious water supply. It's time for the governor and the Legislature to step in and insist that California make more responsible use of the limited water it has. Climate change ensures the state's water shortage will only worsen if our leaders fail to act.

Sadly, when it comes to water, Newsom has no political backbone, which helps explain his near-inaction during his three-plus years in office.

He can't even manage to impose mandatory waterconservation rules for urban users during the current drought out of fear he'll alienate voters during his reelection campaign — a race in which he has no serious opposition and will likely win in a landslide. Taking on farmers for the good of the state seems beyond him.

Meanwhile, the state is failing to act on the voters' mandate for more storage. Californians approved Proposition 1 in 2014, a $7.5 billion bond that dedicated $2.7 billion for new water-storage projects.

But none of the state's dam proposals is anywhere near ready to move forward.

Raising the height of the dam for Los Vaqueros Reservoir by 55 feet, for example, makes sense. It would increase reservoir capacity by about 72%, from 160,000 acre-feet to 275,000 acre-feet, at a cost of nearly $1 billion.

It's less clear that the water storage achieved by other dam proposals are worth the billions in costs. It's time to figure that out.

As for alternative sources, some, including the governor, want the state to invest in desalination plants. Newsom was pushing for the $1.4 billion Huntington Beach plant to move forward. But the California Coastal Commission, including the governor's appointees, rejected the project, citing its impact on marine life, energy use, its vulnerability to sea-level rise and the potential to drive up water rates for low-income residents.

It's time for the governor to stop fiddling and act. As we stand today, despite Proposition 1, there is little sign of new storage or alternative sources for water. In the meantime, we are wasting too much of what we have.

It's time for conservation mandates for urban users and enforcement of the state Constitution to ensure farmers use water only for reasonable and beneficial uses.

Sadly, when it comes to water, Newsom has no political backbone.