California's Water Problem

[Music] with a population of 39 million people california is by far the most populous state in the u.s with greater los angeles being the second largest urban region in the country [Music] and the water needs are high as california has a strong economy with a gross state product of 3.2 trillion us dollars in 2019. to better illustrate this figure it is worth comparing it with entire nations california alone would be the fifth largest economy in the world just ahead of india and the economic activities extend across all sectors industry and finances media and film the information industry in the silicon valley trade as well as agriculture all these factors lead to an enormous demand for water in total numbers california is the largest consumer of water in the united states in this video we want to understand how this supply is maintained and what some future challenges might be first let's take a look at california's geography note that this is a map with extremely exaggerated topography there are several significant mountain ranges across the state northern california has the klamath mountains along the pacific ocean there are the northern and southern coast ranges and to the south we find the transverse ranges and the peninsula ranges to the east is sierra nevada the highest mountain range in the state this mountainous landscape contrasts with the large flat area that characterizes the interior of the state the central valley at the same time there is the colorado desert as well as the driest desert in north america the mojave desert so geographically california is a very diverse state it is home to both the highest point of the contiguous united states mount whitney and the lowest point death valley and the many mountain ranges are crucial to water supply as about 30 of california's water comes from snowpack for example the snowfall in sierra nevada supplies large parts of the central valley with water the central valley consists of the sacramento and a sunwarkeen valley named after these two important rivers in the state with the sacramento river being the largest source of fresh water as it receives approximately two-thirds of northern california's precipitation these rivers eventually join and flow through the corquina strait into the bay of san pablo in san francisco the river's delta is an important source of fresh water withdrawal in the state the central valley project uses a series of dams and artificial canals to divert both rivers to supply the entire central valley these canals are essentially artificial rivers that help distribute the water this allows better water management prevention of floods and droughts and renewable power generation it even enables a more effective use of land as dams allow large cities to grow close to river valleys without the risk of flood during spring [Music] and thanks to the canals that distribute fresh water for agricultural irrigation in the valley the dry environment of the san joaquin valley located a little further south has been transformed into arable land but water isn't just distributed within the central valley after all the supply in the los angeles area and san diego is a particularly big challenge and nowadays it's only possible thanks to enormous efforts when it comes to supplying la with surface water free projects in particular stand out the los angeles aqueduct consists of two separate canals that tap water from the owens river and its tributaries in the owens valley and then transports it to los angeles but diverting this water caused environmental damage the owens lake was deprived of its tributaries which led to the lake drying up and at times increased withdrawal and additional canals also threatened water levels at mono lake an important spot for bird migration another large source of water is the colorado river water is transported to cities in southern california using a series of partly above ground and partly underground canals in certain parts the water has to be pumped over high mountain passages using pumping stations but the longest such cattle project is the california aqueduct it transports water from clifton court forebay in the san joaquin river delta all the way to the southern part of the state along the way there are considerable differences in altitude and the water has to be pumped from many places using a lot of energy especially over the choppy mountains that must be crossed on this route at the edmondson pumping plant the water is raised an entire 587 meters or 1926 feet at other places the water drops abruptly here hydro power stations are used to recapture as much energy as possible but it becomes clear that enormous efforts and costs are necessary to provide for the densely populated cities in southern california so it can be said water from the sacramento and san joaquin river is essential to the state's water supply and their potential for providing water across the state is increased by enormous infrastructure for example in the central valley project for enabling agriculture or in the california state water project for the drinking water supply in southern california water for this region is taken from the river delta between the sacramento river and a san joaquin which is also used for a supply in san francisco and a silicon valley in total this river delta supplies around 25 million people two-thirds of california's population with drinking water of this 67 percent is exported for use in a central valley project and 26 goes to the state water project however it is important that the withdrawal is strictly monitored if not enough water flows through the delta into the bay salty water from the pacific ocean threatens to intrude the delta and reduce water quality even in normal years the water supply in the state is already strained and during droughts the situation gets extremely difficult another important source of water is groundwater which usually accounts for about 30 percent of the supply in a normal year but in years of intense drought this percentage can rise up to 60 percent or more a level of depletion that is not considered sustainable due to climate change more extreme weather events are to be expected such as more frequent droughts as well as extreme precipitation events which in turn can lead to floods the 2012-2016 drought is considered one of the most extreme ones in california's history and has brought many farms into crisis water supply in modern california is only possible due to enormous efforts and large achievements while there have been many successes these projects also cause damage to complex ecosystems and habitats and they create water conflict between communities as well as between cities and farmers in addition many native american tribal lands have been flooded in the past in favor of dam projects many measures are being taken in order to use the limited amount of precipitation in the state as efficiently as possible this includes dams canals and increased use of seawater desalination on one hand and measures to reduce water consumption on the other such as water meters in every home restrictions on private withdrawal water recycling and modern irrigation methods however further improvements in all of these areas will be necessary to achieve a sustainable water supply in the state thank you so much for watching if you want to support more videos like this make sure to subscribe also if you want to see more maps and updates on future videos the links to my social media accounts are in the video [Music] description

Channel: neo

Views: 1,035,540

Rating: 4.8687062 out of 5

Keywords: water, california, los angeles, irrigation, mapped, map, understanding, explainer, why, sacramento, san joaquin, river, aqueduct, supply, sustainability, maps

Id: I821oI3Ezjs

Length: 9min 32sec (572 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 17 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/dog_in_the_vent]

Cadillac Desert is a good read on this subject if anybody is interested.

[u/mooseofdoom23]

There’s tons of water right on the coast lmao dummies 😂

[u/StupidBump]

Pretty good video. I was hoping he'd mention the delta tunnel proposal, along with the fact that we exited the drought.

[u/notorious-nick]

r/centralvalley

[u/ScienceNuts]

Interesting. Water shortages use to be a huge concern of ours every summer on Vancouver Island too, but that had nothing on the worries in California.