Public Education Program Seeks to Raise Awareness of California's Water Crisis
On Sept. 12, the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
announced the launch of a statewide public education program to educate
Californians about critical challenges confronting the state's water
supply and delivery system, including a deepening crisis in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (delta) and a recent court-ordered
massive reduction in the statewide water supply.
Information on the program, "California's Water: A Crisis We Can't Ignore," can be obtained at http://www.calwatercrisis.org.
"We are facing some of the most significant challenges to our water
system in a half-century, yet the public is largely unaware of it,"
said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the ACWA, which represents
nearly all of the state's water agencies. "Just two weeks ago, a
federal court ordered a massive reduction in our statewide water
supply, (which was) potentially one of the largest court-ordered
reductions in California history. This crisis isn't coming; it is here
and now."
- The delta, a key natural estuary and the main pathway
through which more than 25 million Californians and 2.5 million acres
of farmland receive their water, is broken and vulnerable to a natural
disaster that could cripple water deliveries for an extended period.
- Two weeks ago, a federal court cut water supplies from the state's
two largest water delivery systems by up to one-third to protect an
endangered fish.
- The state's population is growing rapidly, but the statewide water system has not been significantly improved in 30 years.
According to ACWA, most Californians have little understanding and
awareness of the state's water problems and their potential impact on
the state's economy, environment and quality of life.
"It's clear that Californians are largely unaware of the crisis at
hand," Quinn stated. "This program is aimed at changing that.
Californians need to know that these problems could affect water
supplies in nearly every region of the state in the coming months and
years."
The program, funded by voluntary contributions from public water
agencies throughout the state, is currently scheduled to run through
the end of 2007.