SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – An unprecedented drought continues to parch California, devastating cities across the state such as the small coastal town of Cambria, which is on the brink of running completely out of water.
The city, located in San Luis Obispo County along California State Route 1, nearly ran out of water in 2021, and was forced to declare a level four drought emergency, requesting residents reduce their water usage by 40%, according to a report from SFGATE.
The unincorporated seaside town, populated by just over 5,000 residents, exclusively receives its water from the San Simeon and Santa Rosa Creeks, which have dried up rapidly.
"I think Cambria is a good poster child for the need to go to more independent, decentralized water resource management," Richard Frank, Professor of Environmental Practice and Director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis, told KCBS Radio on Monday.
As a result of the lack of water, the town's growth has stunted. It's growth rate went from 2.3% to 1% in 2000. In 2022, it's at 0% growth, the outlet said. The town overall has seen its water supply decrease drastically the last four decades.
Frank said that climate scientists believe these "unprecedented water starved times" should be treated as "the new normal" and residents and governments must adjust moving forward.
How can places like have been hit hardest, like Cambria, survive?
"Cambria, like all urban and remote communities, need to redouble their efforts at water conservation," Frank explained. "Second, most of the western United States has to double down on water recycling to the extent that technology permits that we’re not doing. And finally, coastal areas like Cambria have desalination (the process of converting saline water into fresh water) as an option. That's an area that's proven. It is expensive but it is an available means of increasing supply to those areas that are coastally close."
In the short term, according to Frank, cities can import water supplies from other municipalities by truck or other means, a practice currently being done in the drought-ravaged San Joaquin Valley. That's another expensive solution though, and is only a temporary fix that can buy time for cities to come up with a long and more sustainable water practice.
Frank admitted that the water crisis has become so dire that simply practicing conservation isn’t enough to stop the drought.
"Conservation is the first priority but it’s not going to solve the problem and that’s why I say recycling is critically important at desalination where it can be deployed along the coast," he said. "And then we’re going to have to decrease our demand in urban and especially in the agricultural areas that are depleting our state water supply which in turn may free up some water for water transfers through water marketing which may be another means for alleviating the harshest impacts of the drought on rural communities in California."
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