By Charles Carner, WellJet®
Like thousands of other California groundwater professionals, I’m frustrated by the state’s water policies. It seems like common sense is rare, communication and coordination are nonexistent, priorities misplaced, infrastructure crumbling, and millions of acre-feet of water wasted every year. Every drought comes as a complete surprise to policy makers, every flood an unanticipated catastrophe. When it comes to
water allocations, California agriculture, which feeds the nation and the world, is treated like the proverbial “red-headed stepchild” – faced with uncertain supplies and ever-increasing restrictions and regulations.
At WellJet® (US Patent No. 8,312,930 B1), we use high-pressure hydrojetting to improve production and efficiency in groundwater wells. Not only do 85% of California’s 40 million residents rely on groundwater, so does my livelihood!
So, when I attended recent Water Association of Kern County Water Summit in Bakersfield, I expected to be highly skeptical – if not just plain critical – of the presentation by Karla Nemeth, Director of the California Department of Water Resources. After all, DWR is responsible for managing California’s water, and Nemeth is the Big McGee at DWR. I had imagined her sitting up in her aerie on “Mount Sacramento,” sipping Chenin Blanc, blissfully unaware of and unconcerned about the harsh realities and widespread disconnects facing California farmers, water agencies, families and businesses all desperate for their share of inadequate water supplies.
I was wrong.
Karla Nemeth knows her stuff. And presented it clearly and strongly. She showed a firm grasp not only of the big picture, but the little details. She spoke eloquently about the “need to make water supplies more certain” and “more water available during dry times.” She talked in detail about progress being made on the Delta Conveyance, and Sites and San Luis reservoirs. She mentioned the 17-percent increase in recharge last year, noting: “If we had Delta conveyance, the most recent February storm would have sent 75,000 acre-feet to recharge.”
She asked, “How do we make sure we streamline regulations so we can get these projects built sooner?” On that subject, she cautioned the audience to take media reporting with a grain of salt, saying that the state and federal governments “are much more aligned than headlines would have you believe.”
“There’s no time to waste,” she warned, adding that fixing the California aqueduct is “crucial” and the Delta Conveyance “a must for reliability.” “California’s water solutions absolutely have to be integrated solutions… We have to get moving so we can make all the right turns.”
Color me impressed. The director of DWR is not an out-of-touch bureaucrat with no clue about California’s water needs. Nemeth is wired up and plugged in. She knows that California’s farmers need water, and that all stakeholders need to be considered in policymaking. The key to success is implementation: getting staff on the same page, coordinating state and federal government strategies and preparing for the future. I expect to see significant improvement in California water policies – and soon.
Charlie Carner is the Vice President of Well Jet. You can contact him at: ccarner@welljethpc.com
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