Opinion

California water system upgrade overdue ON CALIFORNIA WATER

Water-conveyance facilities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are not up to 21st century standards. Water-conveyance facilities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are not up to 21st century standards. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close California water system upgrade overdue 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

If you are a typical Californian, chances are you have a smartphone in your pocket and a fuel-efficient car in your driveway. You probably do your banking online, stream movies in your home and enjoy a bewildering selection of produce year-round at the supermarket.

Technology has changed our lives in a relatively short time. In sector after sector, industries have made advancements to keep pace with a constantly changing world. It's hard to imagine consumers accepting anything less.

Yet there is one major area where modernization is long overdue: our statewide water system. Despite its essential role in our economy, California's backbone water-delivery system no longer performs to today's standards. We shouldn't be satisfied with that.

It's time to retool. Major advances in air quality, for example, have been made through dramatic changes in technology used by power plants, factories and cars. Huge reductions in water pollution likewise have been made through state-of-the-art treatment plants.

Our statewide water system needs a similar assist from technology. Decades-old conveyance facilities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are being asked to meet new environmental standards they were not designed to meet. Failure to meet that bar has negatively affected fish and water deliveries to millions of Californians.

Science has greatly improved our understanding of the problem. We know that smarter infrastructure can help by reducing impacts on species and making pumping levels more predictable for water suppliers.

Though local water managers are investing in the next generation of wise-water-use technology and solutions in their regions, we've postponed the job at the statewide level. That's a problem.

Wineries in the Livermore Valley, for example, will have a hard time producing award-winning varietals if water delivered through the delta grows increasingly unreliable.

Avocado farmers in San Diego County and cut-flower growers in Ventura will be hard-pressed to produce their crops if water from the statewide system is not reliable enough. In the Central Valley, fields of melons, pistachios and pomegranates will give way to fallowed land if water deliveries become too uncertain to grow these specialty items.

In Silicon Valley, manufacturers of computer chips and circuits know production will fizzle without reliable water from the statewide system.

All of this is at risk because our water system is outmoded and underperforming. Physical improvements are being identified now through a collaborative process known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan that could put us on a path to retool the system for the 21st century.

Specifics are being refined, but the process merits support as state and federal agencies review alternatives and assess how the project would improve conditions for species.

When something isn't working, you fix it. If your statewide water system no longer performs, take steps to improve it. Sticking with the status quo and expecting different results makes as little sense as trying to combat air pollution without investing in clean-air technology.

It is time to step up and invest in a water system that works. Californians expect nothing less.