Former governor discusses severity of CA drought


The state’s drought has been a hot discussion topic for Californians since Gov. Jerry Brown’s historic mandatory water restrictions, implemented at the beginning of April. The topic of water in California was discussed yet again on Monday, at The New Reality: Addressing California’s Water Culture, an event hosted by USC’s Schwarzenegger Institute and the Price School of Public Policy. The Public Policy Institute of California partnered with the two groups for the event.

Jack Knott, dean of the Price School of Public Policy, provided the event’s opening remarks.

“I’m really pleased that we are able to partner with the PPIC and the Schwarzenegger Institute,” Knott said, “We haven’t done this type of partnership in a while, so I’m really glad this is happening. Especially on such an important and critically powerful issue that we face in California today.”

Most urban areas in California have endured the drought without a major economic impact, largely due to improvements in technology and infrastructure. Local governments have addressed drought conditions by diversifying water supply, increasing surface and groundwater storage options, collecting storm water and reducing overall water demand.

The agriculture industry has been hit the hardest. According to PPIC, though many farmers have begun using groundwater rather than rainwater, the drought has caused $2 billion in losses and 17,000 lost jobs.

The event’s first panel, Addressing the California Water Challenge – Today, focused on the problems facing both urban and agricultural areas, and discussed possible solutions.

Knott also said that the institute excellently engages students.

“One of the things that I love about the Schwarezenegger Institute is that it always engages, invites and involves students to these events. They give them a prominent place in these events, and that’s not typical,” he said.

Though droughts are a recurring feature of California’s climate, climatologists have observed that California’s current crisis has worsened due to increasing temperatures.

“We’d like to look at this fourth year of drought as not just a crisis, but as an opportunity to look ahead and create a sustainable water future for the state of California,” said Bonnie Reiss, global director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

Overall, the panel discussed the discrepancies of the drought’s impact across different localities.

The panel included Vito Chiesa, supervisor of Stanislaus County and president of the California State Association of Counties; Marcie Edwards, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board; and Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the PPIC, served as the panel’s moderator.

“We’re all in this together, I could say that over and over and over again so that people would stop pitting themselves against each other,” Chiesa said.

Edwards offered a similar comment while explaining what the LADWP is doing to combat the drought.

“We are moving past the arguing over bits and pieces and moving into implementation,” Edwards said.

For Los Angeles, this implementation means installing stormwater catchment systems, and tearing out ornamental lawns in favor of native landscaping.

The second panel, Addressing the California Water Challenge – The Future, Part 1, focused on how California policy can help the state in future droughts. Panelists included Juliet Christian-Smith, climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists; Daniel Curtin, board member of the California Water Commission and director of the California Conference of Carpenters; James Famiglietti, UC Irvine professor and JPL’s senior water scientist; Robert Hertzberg, California State Senator; and Daniel Sumner, director of UC Agricultural Issues Center and professor at UC Davis. Val Zavala, vice president of news and public affairs for KCET, moderated the panel.

The second panel reiterated the first panel’s belief that it’s time to move past quarreling, and start looking for solutions.

“We need to change the conversation from urban versus rural, agriculture versus cities, and instead recognize the different uses for water,” Famiglietti said.

The third and final panel, The Future, Part 2, continued the discussion on the future of water in California. Panelists included Susan Kennedy, CEO and board member of Advanced Microgrid Solutions; Arnold Schwarzenegger, 38th governor of California; Lester Snow, executive director of the California Water Foundation; and Kevin Starr, professor at USC. Reiss moderated the panel.

After each panel’s discussion, audience members were invited to ask questions of panelists. Panelists were asked a diverse range of questions, from the vice mayor of Culver City to USC students from the Central Valley.

“It’s incredible to learn firsthand from the policy experts who are directly working on California’s water challenge. It really helps understand the collaboration and innovation required to make progress on critical policy issues, and simplify complex problems into manageable steps,” said Josh Blockstein, a sophomore majoring in biology at USC.

“This event really gives insight into the work that is done behind the scenes that is hard to grasp for students like me who aren’t directly involved on these issues.”