As a leader in agriculture, California is responsible for a majority of the United States' food supply. The state's water needs are heavily affected by the demand for agricultural irrigation, creating a unique tension between limited supply and unlimited demand. Water as an environmental issue has been prevalent in California for decades, with issues surrounding distribution, contamination, and access. The Central Valley, composed of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento Valley, is the most agriculturally productive region in the state. It is no coincidence that it is also the area that suffers the highest inequitable access to safe, clean water.
To contextualize the complexity of water in California, we must understand where the state gets its water. Groundwater and surface water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Colorado River are the state's main supply. Within these sources, groundwater is the most important and, subsequently, has been overdrawn for centuries, creating a risk of subsidence and landslides. With policy like the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), requiring the formation of groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) within local water agencies, especially in basins considered high or medium priority in terms of how overdrawn they are, groundwater management is complex for multiple reasons.
In the Central Valley, water is scarce for the rural communities who have been shut out. In California, low-income minority groups are more likely to face water quality violations, with around 700,000 people lacking access to clean drinking water. Groundwater across the state has faced pollution from natural and anthropogenic sources. A disproportionate burden of this pollution is placed on minority communities. The Community Water Systems (CWS) in the San Joaquin Valley face nitrate contamination, with many rural, unincorporated societies depending on these systems.
Some solutions for tackling inequitable water distribution include a combination of smaller CWSs to create a larger utility to minimize contaminant violations and provide a more reliable water distribution system. The California Water Board should consider open communication with the affected rural communities since each community has differing issues. The variability in this issue makes it difficult to find an easy solution. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach must be found, one that encompasses economic, social, and political factors.
The California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) has provided $15 million for San Joaquin Valley projects in the Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Program, an interdisciplinary program focused on finding equitable solutions for all parties involved. The program started in 2002 as a result of the passing of the Regional Water Management Planning Act (Senate Bill 1672) in the same year. This program has been successful in highlighting the importance of collaboration between stakeholders to find effective solutions.
For current projects, a particular emphasis on climate resilience has been a priority. Regardless of its status as a global leader in climate policy and mitigation, California faces issues with climate resilience, especially in the context of water. Through increased aridity and drought in the region, reduced surface and groundwater supplies are an increasing issue. The most popular solution involved recharging groundwater supplies by storing surface water in aquifers underground, with numerous projects across the state focusing on building infrastructure that prioritizes water capture to fuel groundwater recharge.