A coalition of conservation groups wants Southern California to get 85% of its water locally, up from the 50% it gets now, by 2045, and says a new plan shows how to do it.
He is urging state leaders to scrap plans for a 45-mile tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and consider asking voters to approve a bond measure to fund local water solutions. The 34-page strategy was released as critical decisions loom for local officials, California's next governor and lawmakers.
Over the last century, Southern California has grown and prospered thanks to the giant aqueducts it built to bring water from hundreds of miles away: the Eastern Sierra, the Colorado River, and Northern California.
but with Water costs increase and climate change endangers these distant sources, there is growing interest in finding ways to get more water locally.
Allied groups are calling for recycling more wastewater, capturing more stormwater, improving efficiency and cleaning up contaminated groundwater.
“We have to prioritize our investments, and prioritizing them in local water makes the most sense,” said Bruce Reznik, executive director of the Los Angeles Waterkeeper group.
The coalition includes fishing groups, environmental organizations and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe of Northern California.
Is plan calls for a “new urban water renaissance” in California that prioritizes local water. This approach would almost certainly produce more and cost much less than the one proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. delta transportation project below the Delta.
The state estimated the tunnel would cost $20.1 billion in 2024, but opponents say it could cost three to five times as much.
“Local water is reliable, more affordable and more flexible, so we're not committing California ratepayers to paying higher bills they don't need to,” said Kyle Jones, a water expert and consultant who helped prepare the plan for the coalition.
Southern California imports about half of its water from other regions.
The coalition's plan says the region can secure up to 2 million acre-feet of local water per year. It estimates the costs of greater conservation and efficiency, more stormwater and groundwater cleanup, and more water recycling at $44 billion over two decades. The Delta tunnel, on the other hand, could cost between 60,000 and 100,000 million dollars, says.
Final construction of the tunnel project may depend on whether large water agencies, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, decide to participate and pay for it.
1. Cranes rise above the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys. 2. When completed, Los Angeles will nearly double recycled water for 500,000 residents. 3. The storage tanks are located behind a fence before being placed on the plant floor. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
“The Metropolitan Water District really has an important choice on this, which not only affects its ratepayers but affects every person in the state,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta. “Are we going to spend $20, $60, maybe even $100 million on a tunnel? Or are we going to invest a significant amount of money in local solutions that provide water resilience and sustainability for everyone in California? That's what's at stake right now.”
The Metropolitan Water District is already planning to large new facilities in Carson to transform wastewater into purified drinking water. Los Angeles and San Diego are also build water recycling plants.
“At the same time, water imported from the northern Sierra and the Colorado River provides the foundation for the reliability of water supply for Southern California,” said Shivaji Deshmukh, general manager of the MWD.
He noted that MWD invests in water efficiency and stormwater capture, and has helped reduce per-person water use by more than 40% since 1990.
The agency's 38-member board last year adopted a climate adaptation strategy that sets goals for providing additional water.
Los Angeles city leaders and Los Angeles County Supervisors have also set goals to become more self-sufficient at the local level.
Advocates who wrote the policy plan said these efforts should be accelerated and expanded. They noted that Colorado River reservoirs are falling to dangerously low levels and that the delta's native fish are declining as pumping water takes an ecological toll.
“Climate change is exacerbating the challenges in those ecosystems, meaning there will be less and less water available to import,” said Ashley Overhouse, water policy advisor for the group Defenders of Wildlife. “Meanwhile, the cost of water continues to rise.”
About 20 other environmental groups backed the coalition's strategy.
“We have to do a better job in the next 100 years than we did in the last 100 years, if we really want to create a place of abundance again,” said Frankie Myers, a member of the Yurok tribe in Northern California. “This idea that we can steal… and divert water however we want without consequences has to end.”
Construction continues on the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys in October 2025.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Benjamin Bass, a UCLA scientist who studies How climate change is affecting the Colorado River and other water sources, joined the group as they presented their proposal in an online briefing.
“Traditional sources of imported water are less reliable than before,” Bass said. “The most reliable source of water in the future will be local water.”
Other experts have reached similar conclusions.
Researchers at the Pacific Institute, a water think tank in Oakland, have examined improvements such as fixing leaking pipes, replacing inefficient washing machines and toilets, and replacing thirsty lawns with plants adapted to the state's Mediterranean climate.
In a 2022 report, they found that a set of standard practices and technologies could reduce overall urban water use. by 30% or more.
