Virtual River Is the One River in California that Is Growing

We hear a lot of grim reports these days about the future of state’s water supply, but recent studies offer some good news for a change: one of California’s newest and most promising water sources is actually expanding.

This data comes not a moment too soon. For more than a century, California approached water supply the same way: it found a new river to tap, poured a lot of cement, and built dams, canals, and pipelines. Now, however, California has run out of new rivers, and climate change has begun to shrink the ones we have already tapped. We have hit peak water, and the old ways of doing business won’t work in this new era.

But even in this time of constraint, one river keeps growing: the virtual river. The virtual river consists of the combined water supply potential of conversation, water recycling, improved groundwater management, and urban stormwater capture.

How Much Is the Virtual River Growing?

Researchers keep increasing their estimates of how much water we can draw from the virtual river while still going about the state’s business.

A report by the Pacific Institute, Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future, for instance, found farmers could save 19 times the amount of water returned to the environment through the Delta smelt ruling--4.5 to 6 million acre-feet each year--by adopting irrigation technologies that come from the efficiency tributary of the virtual river. This is far more than previously thought.

In addition, NRDC has been studying the potential of the virtual river for some time, but our recent report, A Clear Blue Future: How Greening California Cities Can Address Water Resources and Climate Challenges in the 21st Century, also found that we had previously underestimated it. Our new analysis concludes that:

• Implementing low-impact development--a term that includes many of the virtual river tools--at new and redeveloped residential and commercial properties in the urbanized areas of southern California and limited portions of the San Francisco Bay area has the potential to increase local water supplies by up to 405,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030. That represents roughly two-thirds of the water used by the entire City of Los Angeles each year.
• Expanding the use of low-impact development to industrial, government, public use, and transportation development and redevelopment could yield an additional 75,000 acre-feet of savings per year by 2030--enough to supply 150,000 California families with water for a full year.

That’s right, a water source that actually yields more than we previously thought. You can’t say that about the Colorado River these days.

Why Is the Virtual River Expanding?

As California has come to grips with our water shortage over the past several years, innovators--something our state is rich with--have been busily creating the next generation of water efficiency technology. Their ingenuity is paying off, and it will continue to do so.

Remember when compact florescent light bulbs gave off a light like something from a German U-boat? Now they provide a warm glow, just like an incandescent bulb, and they’ve become ubiquitous in hotels, offices, and homes. Or remember when hybrid cars were only visible at the occasional car show? Now you can’t drive across the Bay Bridge without seeing a dozen.

Advances in the CFLs and hybrid design have helped us dramatically cut back on our energy use. The same is happening with water conservation technology as well.

Smart irrigation systems that use satellite data to adjust flows are beginning to replace the more water-intensive drip systems in the agriculture sector, especially at vineyards. Waterless urinals are becoming common sites at public buildings, and low-flow toilets and efficient appliances are routine purchases for homeowners.

We don’t know where the next technological breakthrough will be. Maybe it will be something like this nearly waterless washing machine, which uses just a cup of water. Or maybe it will be this air washer, which won an Index Award. I won’t try to pick a winner here, but I do know the race is on.

How Do We Push the Virtual River’s Growth Along? 

Yet in order to get these innovations spread across the state, we need to do three things.

1. We must recognize that we have hit peak water. I believe this is happening. I hear it in the conversations I have across the state with water managers and policy makers.

2. We have to set aggressive efficiency targets. California led the nation in establishing and meeting rigorous energy efficiency goals. We are beginning to do the same with water. The California legislature just passed, and the Governor signed, a water bill that calls for reducing per capita water use by 20 percent by 2020. Targets like this are especially good as spurring innovation, because rather than mandating specific practices, they encourage people to continually discover better and cheaper ways to reduce water use.

3.  We have to set aggressive targets for additional tools.  The legislative focus on efficiency is terrific, as this is the largest potential source of “new” water.  However, there is also enormous potential to squeeze new supplies from urban stormwater, groundwater cleanup, and wastewater recycling.  All of these are technologically driven tools that provide ample opportunity for innovation.

Climate scientists suggest that California is likely to be drier in the future – shrinking the amount of water in our rivers.  On the other hand, these new reports and the promise of ongoing innovation suggest that the Virtual River is one source that can keep growing.  If we continue down this path--accepting that we have hit peak water and setting increasingly aggressive efficiency targets--the virtual river will become California’s biggest source of water for the 21st century.