How Los Angeles Is Turning Stormwater Into Future Drinking Water

California is forecast to be ground zero for the El Niño moisture along the West Coast this winter. State officials are hoping to take advantage of this boon by saving water for use during the next drought. Here is a look at how the state is planning to harvest water during the predicted wet winter for use in the future.

California Looks to Harvest Incoming Moisture Surge

It was just a few years ago that California was in the throes of a severe drought. The moisture machine has picked up over the last several months, helping to bring reservoir water levels back up to near capacity.

According to California Water Watch, Ventura County's Lake Casitas was 94% full last week, while reservoirs across the state are averaging about 104% of the norm for this time of the year. The latest long-range forecast is growing increasingly confident that the Golden State will bear the brunt of a parade of potent storms roaring in from the Pacific this winter. This persistent stream of moisture will likely send the reservoir water levels climbing.  

The challenge facing the state now is how to balance the task of releasing just enough water from reservoirs to prevent them from overflowing while still keeping as much as possible for use during the next drought. If not enough water is released, the reservoir could overflow and trigger flooding. If too much water is released, there is the risk that it will not be replenished.

Marty Ralph, director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, explained how California reservoir operators released too much water in 2013, leading to an extreme shortage down the road. Ralph detailed that officials released water in preparation for a major storm; however, that moisture never arrived. He described how “no more storms came for the rest of the winter, and that unnecessary water release left the whole watershed in a terrible situation that summer.”