Diablo Grande is running out of water. How and why does this happen?
Diablo Grande is a small, recently built community of 1600 people, nestled in the hills on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley – about an hour’s drive southeast of Livermore. It’s fair to question the efficacy of building a town in that spot when urban or suburban infill might be a better approach for development in California.
The town, however, has been allowed to exist. What can and should it do to get water for its residents?
The verdant landscape surrounding Diablo Grande will turn brown during hot summer months, but the community apparently hoped to irrigate the thirsty and fast growing redwoods to provide protection from the hot sun and wind.
Small communities having water supply issues is a familiar story for many of us. But does it make sense, especially since Diablo Grande is only 5 miles from the California Aqueduct?
Unlike almost any other commodity, however, water is not simple to buy and sell. California has a cattywampus water rights system and agencies collectively hoard the essential liquid. Development of Diablo Grande was initially disallowed for lack of water supply, then permitted when the community formed a water agency and contracted to purchase water from the Kern County Water Agency (Kern’s water is not conveyed from hundreds of miles away, rather moved only 5 miles uphill from the California Aqueduct, slightly lessening the supplies transported from the Delta to Kern County under its contract with the State Water Project.).
Diablo Grande is only 5 miles as the crow flies from the California Aqueduct which carries millions of acre-feet annually from the Delta to farms in the San Joaquin Valley and cities in Southern California.
But they seemed to forget to pay for the water. Kern had planned to cut Diablo Grande off, then agreed to provide water if residents agree to pay $569 per month – a 300% increase over the previous water rates.
Residents blame the bankrupt developer. Those of us who follow water closely might have realized that a short-term water transfer contract with the Kern County Water Agency does not have the security of a long-term contract with the State Water Project. But most people are unaware – they turn on their tap and expect water to flow.
Why is it that a community like Diablo Grande has so few options when there is so much water nearby? Why aren’t other sellers ready to do business? Why is there such a water shortage when there is no drought (fingers crossed)?
There is no such thing of a milk shortage, an electricity shortage or a sneaker shortage in small towns, as long as residents are able and willing to pay for them. Why is water different?
Water rights are controlled by urban and agricultural agencies, and marketing of water between them is highly regulated and very often discouraged by parochial interests that prevent water from being used efficiently.
Diablo Grande’s woes may garner little sympathy. But the fiefdoms that control California’s water have also caused San Francisco to overinvest in storage – a significant cost to its ratepayers.
San Francisco’s nine reservoirs, including Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, hold more that 6 times its annual use. The reason for such a conservative approach is not that anyone thinks there will be zero rain for 6 years. But they do fear that there could be drought – little rain for 6 years – and almost all of the Tuolumne River’s flow would belong to the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts under their senior water rights leaving San Francisco with its junior water rights dry. In a sane world cities like San Francisco would simply pay a slightly higher price during droughts to purchase water from others rather than having to invest in excess storage that provides so little economic return.
For more on California’s cattywampus water policies (apologies for the technical term), see our blogs on water rights and water prices.
Restore Hetch Hetchy firmly believes better water markets could help solve California’s water woes as well as making it easier to restore Hetch Hetchy.
Markets are not, however, a panacea. Basic human needs for everybody as well as the public trust (streams, wetlands etc.) should be protected from market forces. Most business uses, including agriculture, and discretionary urban use, however, would be more efficient with market mechanisms at play.
By improving efficiency in cities and on farms, economic incentives will help maximize food production and meet business needs while optimizing the use of limited water supplies. As a result, it will be easier to meet those basic human needs and to reduce the pressure to extract ever increasing amounts of water from our rivers and streams.