Water future could be drying up
By Racella De Guia
Staff Writer
racelladeguia@gmail.com
Robert Swartz hosted a presentation titled "California's Water Future: At the Crossroads of Science and Policy."
The seminar was held on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. in Science III, Room 108.
Swartz is a California State University, Bakersfield alumnus. He attained his Bachelors of Science in 1992 and Masters of Science in 1995. He is currently the principal project manager of the Regional Water Authority in Sacramento.
Swartz discussed the unpromising position California's water supply system was in.
In his seminar he discussed how water supply planners are taking an integrated approach to resolving these issues. As of right now, water supply planners are joining together to provide a glimpse of hope for a brighter water supply future.
By incorporating high quality science with an excellent policy in determining options for today and tomorrow, this may help California's water supply system.
Swartz said, "There is enough water in the state [California], we need to be more efficient though."
Swartz advised that the residents of Kern County should conserve water.
Geology major Jlynn Bowen said that the seminar was "accurate ... he talked about the affects the drought had on agriculture."
During Swartz's seminar he stated "agriculture uses 80 percent of water overall."
To California's farmers and ranchers, water is a significant resource.
Protecting the environment is the keystone of Kern County's agricultural industry.
According to geology professor Janice Gillespie's Web site, Source Water Protection (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP) supply water to over 4MM acres of irrigated farmland and provide over $15 billion in San Joaquin Valley alone.
Two-thirds of state residents obtain a segment of their drinking water stream from the delta.
CVP offers 20 percent of California's domestic and irrigation water in the 7 million acre-feet region.
The Bypass formally known as the Peripheral Canal takes water directly from the Sacramento River to the pumps in the South Delta.
Graduate student Elizabeth Powers attended the lecture because her husband is a farmer and water issues are important to farmers.
Powers also attended the seminar because she has an interest in water levels.
Not only is Powers a graduate student, but a CSUB staff member as well.
Powers said, "The presentation was great. He answered all the questions sufficiently. I knew what to expect in the lecture."
Farmers are in dire need of a reliable water source or they will not be able to determine how many acres to plant in the spring.