How Can Data Reduce the Impact of Drought on California?

It has now been almost four full years of drought for the US state of California, whose lack of precipitation has engendered the lowest levels of snowmelt in 500 years. Indeed, according to NASA, it would take one full year of continuous downpour to redress the amount of water California has lost over recent years.

Although many are touting the tropical storm El Niño as the solution to California’s water problems, it’s unlikely the storm will be able to provide enough water on its own. In fact, there is a chance that ironically the tempest could provide more water in a concentrated burst than the state is currently capable of absorbing, due to the eradication of water-retaining forestry as a result of both drought and concurrent forest fires.

Taking the Initiative

As such, it’s clear that California can’t wait for a miracle to save their population and must adjust to the situation of their own accord. Earlier this year, mandatory curbs were placed on water use in the state for the first time. To be fair to them, the residents have responded well to the crisis and have endeavoured to comply by limiting their use of the precious resource. In September, figures released by the State Water Resources Control Board revealed that Californians had reduced their consumption levels by 26%, outstripping the governor’s 25% target for the fourth successive month.

While such reports do allow an insight into water consumption on a monthly basis and in an official sphere, it would be even more helpful if the everyman on the street had access to this information at his convenience. For instance, learning that you over-consumed at the end of the month and didn’t meet your target is all well and good – but it doesn’t allow for much time to adjust your habits.

When you consider that leaky taps and pipework contribute as much as 10% towards urban consumption of water, it’s evident that even the most conscientious and environmental of Californians may be unwittingly exacerbating the problem, despite their best efforts.

A More Detailed Look at Consumption

Fortunately, it appears that innovation companies (and the state government itself) is responding to such a need for technological advances. It’s telling that California registered almost twice as many patents for water-based inventions as their closest competitor state (Texas). Meanwhile, the state recently pledged $7.5 billion towards developing water monitoring technologies, signalling its intention to provide its resident with better information about the water they consume.

One example of a technology already in place is on offer from supplier Glendale Water and Power, who present their customers with the opportunity to view their ongoing water bill in hourly, daily and monthly increments. Such ready access to water consumption figures allows people to make real-time decisions about their water use, better equipping them to alleviate the effects of drought on them personally and on society as a whole.

As an isolated case, the Glendale model provides a good example to the rest of the state. However, as America’s most populated state, it will take significant time and investment in order to develop the capability to make such information available to everyone.

Furthermore, the more complex issues of evaporation and transpiration also account for a fraction of water consumption – to learn more about science’s growing knowledge of these areas, please read the article New Technologies for Large-Scale Evapotranspiration Measurements.