60 Minutes’ Piece on California Water Crisis Should’ve Addressed Solutions

A week ago, the CBS news program 60 Minutes ran a story about California water issues. 

Agribusiness interest groups recently have been quick to (falsely) blame water shortages in California this year on environmental laws in the Bay-Delta estuary – and then call for their repeal.   The 60 Minutes segment briefly mentioned two obvious flaws with this position.  First, 60 Minutes acknowledged the often-ignored fact that the state’s three years of drought are actually responsible for the large majority (75 percent) of water supply reductions this year.

Second, the show mentioned an issue these agricultural interest groups never talk about – the closure of the state’s salmon fishery, which has been shut down for two years now. This closure has left thousands of people out of work and has cost the state a half billion dollars. If we were to heed the calls of some in the agricultural community to repeal environmental laws, California’s salmon fishing industry could be lost forever.

I would have liked to see more of the nearly 13-minute segment focus on the facts mentioned above, as well as address real, smarter water solutions that are available at our fingertips. Unfortunately, the story instead spent a great deal of time focused on the myth that California water issues are a “fish versus farms” situation. Instead of focusing on this myth, it would have been great to see them press the farmers interviewed, or even Governor Schwarzenegger, on the real primary cause of water reductions– the drought – on the plight of the fishing industry, and on how to ensure sustainable water supplies in future dry years.

There’s no denying that there are farmers and farm communities in the Valley suffering from water shortages (although fortunately most are not) – but the drought and decades of failed water policies in an arid climate are really to blame for those impacts. Meanwhile, the state’s salmon industry has been devastated by decades of irresponsible water management.  And the environmental protections the interest groups want to see repealed would not only fail to provide relief for California farmers – it would remove protections for our vulnerable salmon runs.  This could force the fishery to close permanently. 

It would be great to see 60 Minutes delve deeper into these water issues in the future – and interview some of the thousands of California fishermen whose industry has been shut down and communities hit hard by lost jobs and revenue. It would be great to see them talk to the Delta farmers who disagree with calls to repeal environmental protections – and who benefit from them because they ensure better water quality for irrigating their crops.  And most importantly – it would be great to see them outline the growing common ground around the smart water solutions that can provide relief for farmers, fishermen and all Californians alike, such improving water efficiency, water recycling, and groundwater management. These solutions can ensure sustainable supplies of abundant, clean water into the future – in wet years and dry.

California can only design effective strategies to supply water for the future if we focus on the real causes of shortages.  Ending environmental protections in the Delta could cause the estuary to collapse and permanently close California’s salmon fishery – but it wouldn’t help us prepare for the next drought.

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