Managing California’s water is a conversation as old as the first diverted stream, and as new as our historic drought. But August will bring a watershed discussion in the Capitol. Groundwater management and a revised water bond are the two leading policy decisions looming and there are several more embedded. Those of us who have devoted our professional lives to water and those new to the subject and those somewhere in-between will try to reach resolution on difficult subjects. Facts will help us all. The Public Policy Institute of California, in collaboration with the UC Davis Watershed Science Institute, recently published “Water Use in California,” a useful two-page fact sheet. As the authors note, we face “tough decisions about how and when to allocate water….” Yes. Let’s focus on facts.
