The problem isn’t just that Southern California’s Coachella Valley has approximately 100 large commercial farms, 120 golf courses, dozens of world-class resorts, and one of the nation’s highest rates of per capita water use. It’s that 90% of the 330,000 acre feet of Colorado River water that the Coachella Valley Water District receives every year is sold to farmers (who have access to the Coachella Canal) for just $40.14 per acre foot1. Cheap water encourages farmers to produce water-intensive crops like alfalfa instead of drought-tolerant crops and seasonal produce. Another problem is that this water is being imported from the Colorado River which is an increasingly unreliable source. And the final problem is that instead of the Valley’s water consumption falling, (as with other Southwestern municipalities), the Coachella Valley’s municipal water use continues to increase due to a rising population and an increase in the irrigation of crops and landscaping due to climate change.2 3 4
An outside observer might easily think that the inhabitants of this green and verdant desert region are living in a bubble, and the facts seems to support that belief. But first some clarity: the farms and golf courses in this region use raw Colorado River water that’s diverted at the Imperial Dam then conveyed by the All-American and Coachella Canals. Whereas municipal water is pumped from the Coachella Valley Groundwater Basin, an aquifer that at one time contained an estimated 39.2 million acre-feet of water, just in its upper 1,000 feet.
Challenge #1 – Maintaining groundwater levels
The Coachella Valley Water District and four other water agencies have been doing their best to maintain groundwater levels through the use of groundwater replenishment facilities. These programs are designed to reverse decades of aquifer overdraft and ensure long-term water sustainability. By percolating 165,000 acre feet a year of imported water directly into the ground, the districts have successfully stabilized and even raised groundwater levels in historically depleted areas. But what has been left unsaid is that the two sources of imported water – the Colorado River and the State Water Project, are under severe long-term threat from climate change. Therefore Coachella Valley’s water districts have to plan for the day when they have no sources of imported water, and will have to depend entirely on groundwater.5
Challenge #2 – Convincing residents to use less water
The residents of the Myoma Dunes Water District – which serves Bermuda Dunes and a part of La Quinta, consumed an average of 217 gallons of water a day. While residents of Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Thousand Palms, Indian Wells, La Quinta, and Thermal consumed an average of 188 gallons of water per day. And residents of the Desert Water Agency, which serves Palm Springs and Cathedral City, used an average of 178 gallons of water per day.6 The residents of other comparably-sized desert cities use far less water. On average residents of Tucson use as little as 72 gallons a day, residents of Phoenix 92 gallons, and residents of Albuquerque use just 56 gallons per day.
While the Coachella Valley relies entirely on imported Colorado River water to recharge its aquifers, and loops recycled water back to its farms and golf courses, other Southwestern desert cities have shifted to advanced purification technology that recycles 100% of their wastewater directly back into municipal drinking supplies. In the Arizona cities of Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe, they treat the recycled water to high standards so it can be used to irrigate sports fields, golf courses, commercial landscapes, and create or restore riparian habitats. It is also used to recharge aquifers and stored underground for use during times of shortage. Recycled water can extend water supplies, improve water quality, reduce discharge and disposal costs of wastewater, and save energy.7
Challenge #3 – Preparing for “Day Zero” when the Coachella Valley receives no more Colorado River water
If the current drought continues and Lake Powell reaches dead pool, it’s estimated that Lake Mead will also reach dead pool within two-to-four years. This means that absolutely no Colorado River water pass beyond Hoover Dam and into the lower Colorado River basin. The Colorado River Aqueduct, the All-American Canal, and the Coachella Canal would be shut down. In this worst-case scenario, the Coachella Valley would survive by pumping from its underground aquifer, though this would immediately trigger a severe, unsustainable deficit. Because the region averages only 3 inches of rainfall annually, its primary long-term buffer would be exhausted without Colorado River water being available to replenish it.8
Without imported water the valley’s water supply would shrink by roughly 50%. To prevent the aquifer from going dry, the State of California would likely enforce extreme water rationing, ban all outdoor ornamental landscaping, and trigger a massive, forced downsizing of the local agricultural sector. 9 Why not do some of these things now instead of waiting until the Colorado River has dried up?