The third consecutive dry year in California has received extensive media coverage - and will receive even more attention this summer. Some simple facts and a few recent quotes from the media demonstrate the water management challenge California faces - and point the way to practical solutions.

First, thanks to litigation and advocacy by NRDC, state and federal agencies have imposed new protections for endangered fish and wildlife in the Bay Delta that will restrict water exports, particularly compared to recent record levels of diversions. Over the past decade, numerous Delta fish species have declined precipitously, including delta smelt, longfin smelt, salmon, steelhead, and green sturgeon. However, the cause of the water shortages this year is not environmental protections (as some have alleged), but rather a third consecutive dry year. Lester Snow, director of the state's Department of Water Resources, estimates that without ESA rules on Delta water, State Water Project irrigation allocations might reach 35 percent this year, instead of 30. Federal officials give a similar estimate - the Central Valley Project's 10 percent allocations for south-of-Delta farmers might rise to 15 percent, they say. "If the ESA goes away this afternoon, we still have a drought," Snow said last week. Overall, although pumping has been reduced modestly to protect endangered fish, the pumps have not been turned off, and it is drought, not environmental restrictions, that are reducing water deliveries.

Second, although some farmers are receiving very low water allocations this year, other neighboring farmers are receiving 100% of their allocated supplies, as a result of their senior water rights under California law. Some of this water will be transferred through water marketing agreements to water-short farmers, as well as to urban areas. Overall, several million acre feet of water will be delivered to agriculture this year by the state and federal water projects, despite the drought, although some districts will only get 10-15% of their allocations. 

Third, in the past few weeks, as a result of extraordinarily low returns at a time when spawning fish will face poor river conditions (fish are also affected by droughts), state and federal regulators have closed entirely the 2009 California commercial salmon season.  Nearly all of the recreational salmon season has also been closed. This closure will cost California approximately $280 million and 2700 jobs. The salmon season was closed last year as well, for the first time in state history. The future of this important resource and industry is a key part of the discussion about future water policies in California. (Many of the protections imposed for delta smelt also benefit the salmon fishery and endangered salmon and steelhead runs.). Without new solutions, the coming few years could bring a permanent end to salmon fishing in California, and an end to locally caught salmon on our dinner plates - an important the heritage and economic engine in many coastal and tribal communities.

Three consecutive dry years are imposing hardships on farmers, fishermen and some urban residents who face mandatory conservation requirements. NRDC has launched a comprehensive effort to meet this challenge and advance effective solutions.

• NRDC has identified four priority water management tools to improve our water supplies - a "virtual river"  of urban and agricultural water use efficiency, wastewater recycling, groundwater clean up and management, and urban stormwater capture. These tools represent by far the largest source of "new" water to meet human and environmental needs. These tools also offer dramatic water quality benefits, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced vulnerability to drought and the likely impacts of climate change on our water supply systems. Business leaders and urban water agencies agree with NRDC that these tools are the keys to providing water for California's future.
• California should take action this year to tap into the water supplies of the Virtual River. The cornerstone of this agenda is AB 49 (Authored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer and sponsored by NRDC), which is designed to implement the Governor's call for a 20 percent reduction in per capita water use by 2020. Other legislative and administrative actions should include improving landscape irrigation water use efficiency, expanding water recycling programs, safely increasing the use of grey water, and promoting stormwater capture and management plans.
• At the federal level, last December, NRDC wrote a joint letter with the Association of California Water Agencies, requesting funding for water solutions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That effort, along with the efforts of our Water Program team in DC, succeeded in setting aside funding for green water solutions. Last week, Secretary Salazar released $260 million in stimulus funding for California water projects, including NRDC priorities such as wastewater recycling and efficiency.
• One of the projects that will receive stimulus funds is a pumping plant that will permanently decommission the Red Bluff Diversion Dam -- one of the most damaging barriers to fish migration in California. This project is a direct result of a recent agreement with local farmers reached in NRDC's successful ESA litigation on salmon protection.
• On March 30, President Obama signed the bill giving final authorization to the restoration of the San Joaquin River.  Before the federal Bureau of Reclamation literally dried up the river below Friant Dam, this was one of the state's most important salmon rivers. This fall, for the first time in 60 years, water will be released from Friant Dam to begin the restoration of the river's ecosystem and salmon fishery. The restoration agreement that NRDC and our coalition reached with the federal government and local farmers also provides for a water management program, including efficiency and improved groundwater management, to help farmers co-exist with a living river. The restoration of the San Joaquin is one of the most ambitious salmon restoration projects ever undertaken and represents a ray of hope for California salmon and fishing communities.
• California must take advantage of this moment to develop a comprehensive solution for the troubled Delta. That solution should be based on the careful and far-reaching recommendations of the Delta Vision Strategic Plan. More on that topic soon.

California's water problems have been brewing for decades. But water issues usually languish far too low on the priority list of the public and decision-makers. Today, three dry years have produced a sharp focus on water among elected officials and the public, providing a remarkable opportunity to advance a new generation of solutions that demonstrate that we can meet our water needs while helping to restore both our economy and environment.