Report: Central Valley chugging too much water

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jul 29, 2006 | by Steve GeissingerSACRAMENTO BUREAU

ELK GROVE -- A new front has opened on the longtime war between the North and the South over water, the very lifeblood of California.

It lies generally to the east of the Bay Area, where explosive growth in the Central Valley -- with its sprawling single-family homes surrounded by expansive lawns and greenery -- is consuming water at an alarming rate, concerned experts and legislators said.

For instance, Elk Grove, a southern Sacramento suburb, has become the nation's fastest expanding city, with a 10 percent growth rate, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Some residents like it so much they commute to work as far as the Bay Area.

Lawns, in particular in the hot Central Valley, are creating a "giant sucking sound in California," according to a recent study by the independent Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco.

Typical houses in the hotter inland, with big thirsty green lawns, consume two to three times the water used by coastal residences, the study reports.

In essence, the study indicates that it will likely come down to lawns in the CentralValley versus drinking water for the generally cooler but more populous Bay Area and Los Angeles regions.

"Over the next 25 years, Californians' historic love affair with lawns will be a major factor in escalating water demand in the state's cities and suburbs," according to the report. "Without efforts aimed specifically at reducing outdoor urban water use, the demand will pose significant...challenges for California."

Lawmakers say they hope to take a step toward easing the problem when they return next month to wrap up their 2006 session. Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, is among the main authors of legislation.

"Anticipated population growth will put significant pressure on California's limited water supply," he said. "In order to avoid serious water shortages in the future, we must make smart use of the technologies available to us now."

His measures, among other things, would encourage construction of water-thrifty homes, use of water-conserving plants, installation of more automatic irrigation systems, and adjustment and repair of faulty sprinklers. But legislators say that's just the beginning.

Experts and lawmakers are growing more concerned because of farmland loss, building trends and further expected growth.

Single-family homes with nice lawns, the norm in the Central Valley, typically use twice to three times as much water as multi- family structures or a coastal residence, according to the PPIC report.

In the interior sections of the state, the share of single- family homes in new housing has increased from 80 percent to 86 percent since 2000. Conversely, the coast has seen a surge in multi- family housing, with the share of town homes, condominiums and other multi-family units rising from 37 percent to 46 percent.

As a result, in inland areas, landscaping typically accounts for more than half of all residential water use, compared to about a third in coastal regions.

Although land use is the primary factor in these differences, inland water demand is also compounded by the significantly hotter, dryer inland climates.

Demand will be driven even higher by population growth -- at least half of the 11 million additional residents California expects by 2025 will live in interior regions.

"Do the math," says PPIC economist Ellen Hanak, who co-authored the study. "We're facing the prospect of many more people, with more lawns and gardens, in the state's hottest, driest regions -- that adds up to a lot of water."

Solutions, besides those already moving through the Legislature, could focus on nurseries providing more low-water plants and rebates from utilities for use of them.

The same method could be used to create an incentive for employing "smart" irrigation systems and replacing turf with low- water plants.

But Hanak says incentive, education and outreach may not be enough.

The state may have to adopt water-rate reforms, along with regulations requiring new, "smart" watering methods and landscaping changes that reduce water use, she says.

"Regulatory restrictions on landscaping of new homes -- restricting lawns to a fraction of the yard -- are still rare in California but increasingly common in neighboring states," Hanak says.

"For new homes, it may be easier and more cost-effective to build 'water smart' from the ground up," she says.

"But whether education and outreach -- particularly with builders -- is sufficient to encourage this goal, or whether regulatory solutions are required, is still an open question," says Hanak.

Contact Sacramento bureau chief Steve Geissinger at sgeissinger@angnewspapers.com.