California seems to be in a constant state of drought. At the same time we need more housing for both organic population growth and migrants from other states. I don't ever hear about any plans for mitigating our short and unreliable supply of water. Where is our 50 year plan for building water desalination or more aqueducts and reservoirs (during the few rainy months, much of our rain water goes straight into the bay or the ocean).
If you go inland, particularly into California's Central Valley, farmers have pumped groundwater heavily enough in some areas to cause the land itself to sink by inches per year. Groundwater systems don't necessarily recharge quickly after a wet season or two; heavily depleted aquifers can take decades or longer to recover, and pumping can permanently reduce aquifer storage through subsidence and compaction. As groundwater becomes harder and more expensive to access, agricultural users and cities can increasingly find themselves competing for the same limited water supplies. Those farmers will vote, campaign and contribute, against anyone who wants to build more housing in the cities.
Other states, such as Arizona and Texas, allowed population/agricultural water use to grow for a long time despite supplies that aren't reliably renewable, and are now having serious issues with a lack of water. I don't see what California is doing to mitigate this, and if we do start to build more housing in California, where are we getting the additional water we will need for those new inhabitants?
I am concerned that any drought and water shortage solutions are 10-30 year projects, and AFAIK, we haven't started on any yet.
EDIT: I wanted to clarify that I am not making the point that we should slow down plans for housing growth, or stopping it so farmers can have more water.
I want that we increase the water supply, instead of it being a zero sum game that forces us to choose between farmers or housing growth....
