Sweetwater Collaborative sponsored a series of Drought Forums in summer and fall 2014. In preparing for our Drought Policy Forum, we researched and wrote a preliminary report--Exploring Our Options: Santa Barbara Communities Collaborative Water Resources Stewardship for Drought and Beyond.
We collaborated with environmental educators, landscape professionals, policy advisors, government workers, and non-profit leaders to ask important questions about practical drought adaptation and long-term water system alternatives, including desal.
Below please find our key findings.
•Australia's recent 13-year drought shows that people with a similar climate and standard of living to ours can live well using 44% less water than we consume in California.
•A rate structure which allots modest rates for basic household water needs, with sufficiently increased rates beyond that level effectively reduces water use by 30-50%.
•Over 50% of water consumption is used for landscapes. Switching from lawns and lush temperate or tropical plantings to native or Mediterranean plantings, combined with onsite rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse can cut landscape water use by 70% or more.
•State water market purchases are a potential bridge across drought years to wet years, though pricing, supply, and transport uncertainties must be resolved.
•Groundwater recharge from stormwater through infiltration basins and on-site rainwater infiltration requires more study for Santa Barbara communities.
•Desalination provides a steady, reliable supply of water, independent of weather conditions, but carries high economic, energy, environmental, and political costs and risks.
•It is likely possible to use Santa Barbara's desalination plant to recycle wastewater at lower economic, energy, and environmental cost than desalination, but technical uncertainties require more study and regulatory uncertainties will take more time.
•Future local climate patterns may change significantly from what we have experienced in the past.
•The complexity and uncertainty of the drought crisis lends itself to a Collaborative Water Management approach.
•Critical questions require more focused investigation. Promising solutions require pilot projects to validate. Solutions validated by pilot projects require implementation.