William Brangham:
Let’s start with some context.
California has one of the largest and most complex water systems in the world. It’s responsible for delivering drinking water to almost 40 million people and irrigating farms that grow three-quarters of the nation’s fruits and nuts. That enormous task is complicated by an increasingly hot and dry climate, growing demands for that water and geography.
So where does the state’s water come from? About a third of Southern California’s supply comes from the Colorado River. And then there’s precipitation. Even though 75 percent of the state’s rain and snow falls north of the state capital, Sacramento, 80 percent of the demand comes from areas further south, in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles and the vast farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley.
When rain and snow fall in the north, whatever doesn’t evaporate can seep into the ground to be pumped or travel through massive networks of dams, reservoirs, canals and aqueducts across the state. And how all that water is allotted and to whom has been a source of friction in California for decades.
