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Achieving a Sustainable California Water Future Through Innovations in Science and Technology California Council on Science and Technology April 2014 Cover Image: 12-hr satellite precipitation accumulation estimate (mm) on March 28, 2014 (20:00 UTC) over California, produced by the G-WADI PERSIANN-CCS System of the UC Irvine Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote-sensing (CHRS) Copyright 2014 by the California Council on Science and Technology. Library of Congress Cataloging Number in Publications Data Main Entry Under Title: Achieving a Sustainable California Water Future Through Innovations in Science and Technology April 2014 ISBN-13: 978-1-930117-79-8 Note: The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) has made every reasonable effort to assure the accuracy of the information in this publication. However, the contents of this publication are subject to changes, omissions, and errors, and CCST does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracies that may occur. CCST is a non-profit organization established in 1988 at the request of the California State Government and sponsored by the major public and private postsecondary institutions of California and affiliate federal laboratories in conjunction with leading private-sector firms. CCST’s mission is to improve science and technology policy and application in California by proposing programs, conducting analyses, and recommending public policies and initiatives that will maintain California’s technological leadership and a vigorous economy. For questions or comments on this publication contact: California Council on Science and Technology 1130 K Street, Suite 280 Sacramento, California 95814 (916) 492-0996 [email protected] Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................1 2. Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................7 2.1 Objectives of the Report .............................................................................................................................10 2.1.1 Background .......................................................................................................................................10 2.1.2 Report Structure and Methodology ....................................................................................................10 2.1.3 Defining Innovation ...........................................................................................................................11 2.1.4 Sustainable Integrated Water Management .....................................................................................11 2.2 Water Use Cycle .........................................................................................................................................12 2.2.1 Natural Systems ................................................................................................................................12 2.2.2 The Built Environment & the Water Use Cycle ..................................................................................13 2.2.3 Water Use Cycle: First Tier ................................................................................................................13 2.2.4 Structure of the Detailed Report (Sections 3 and 4) ..........................................................................16 3. Overarching Technologies and Innovation Opportunities ............................................................................17 3.1 Water Information .......................................................................................................................................17 3.1.1 Data Acquisition ................................................................................................................................18 3.1.2 Data Management and Use ..............................................................................................................23 3.2 Water System Management ......................................................................................................................27 3.3 The Water/Energy Nexus ..........................................................................................................................34 3.4 Water Quality ..............................................................................................................................................39 4. Sector-Specific Technologies and Innovation Opportunities .......................................................................41 4.1 Watershed Management .............................................................................................................................41 4.2 Extraction, Conveyance, Storage, and Distribution ....................................................................................46 4.3 Water/Wastewater Treatment......................................................................................................................50 4.4 Water Use, With a Focus on Water Users ..................................................................................................58 4.4.1 Agricultural Water Use Efficiency ......................................................................................................58 4.4.2 Urban Water Use Efficiency ..............................................................................................................64 5. Summary Findings and Conclusions ..............................................................................................................73 5.1 High-Level Conclusions ..............................................................................................................................73 5.2 Specific Recommendations ........................................................................................................................74 5.3 Barriers to Implementation ..........................................................................................................................76 5.4 Agents of Change/Division of Responsibility for Implementation ................................................................76 5.5 Next Steps ..................................................................................................................................................76 Appendix A: Steering Committee ........................................................................................................................77 Appendix B: Reviewers.........................................................................................................................................79 Appendix C: Study Participants ...........................................................................................................................80 Online survey participants .................................................................................................................................80 Focus Group Participants .................................................................................................................................82 Appendix D: Methodology ....................................................................................................................................85 Appendix E: Online Survey Questionnaire .........................................................................................................87 Message from CCST CCST is pleased to present “Achieving a Sustainable California Water Future through Innovations in Science and Technology,” a study designed to help inform the decisions California faces in navigating the challenges of meeting the state’s water needs in the face of population growth and climate change impacts over the coming years. This report provides an overview of California’s water use cycle, the needs and challenges it faces at each stage of the cycle, and identifies innovation opportunities that the state could potentially pursue in the near future. The study builds on two CCST projects completed in recent years: the Innovate 2 Innovation reports, which assessed California’s innovation ‘ecosystem’, and the California’s Energy Future reports, which offered a comprehensive look at what would be required to reach California’s goals of reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In the former project, water was identified as one of the state’s major challenges where innovation had the potential to make a significant difference; in the latter, the relationship between water and energy - the water-energy nexus - was touched upon in most of the publications in the series. This report represents input from more than a hundred and fifty water experts, including representatives from state, federal, and local agencies, academia, federal research laboratories, NGO’s and the private sector. It provides both near-term and long-term recommendations, to be pursued by a variety of agents. California’s water system is enormous, complex, and depends upon the successful cooperation and interaction of myriad of agencies at the federal, state and local level. The challenges faced by the state are complex, and so is the range of potential solutions. For this reason, in addition to the overall near- and long-term action items, the document also provides recommendations specific to each area of the water system. However, one thing is clear: innovation may be