1. A Conservative Attempt to Conserve
Photo from The Slate
On Wednesday, April 1st, California Governor Jerry Brown announced his attempt to
address the state’s worst drought in its history. It may have been April Fool’s Day, but this was
no joke; California’s drought issues have become an increasingly important topic as the state is
running out of water. For a state that has only about one year of water stored, it was time for
some kind of measure to be taken. Jerry Brown announced a new executive order that mandated
water usage to be reduced by 25%. This plan is the first involving mandated usage reduction in
the state’s history and gives the state a chance at combating the problem that we face in making
sure that we have water to be used in the future, especially if we can keep water affordable for
the people of California.
The issue of water conservation has been a constant in California for many years and a
long-term viable solution has yet to be found. The executive order from Governor Brown is a
step in the right direction. Looking forward, a true solution is sure to be wanted by the nation.
One idea that is brought up from time to time is the idea of taking water from the ocean and

2. converting it to drinkable water that can be used for everyday use and agriculture. This process is
called desalination. Currently, three small desalination plants are open in California, with a
fourth the open in Carlsbad, California in 2016. This plant is being looked at as a “test run” for
the rest of state to see if desalination is yet a viable option to help remedy the water crisis.
The problems with desalination are its immense costs. For the Carlsbad plant, it will take
two gallons of seawater to produce one gallon of tap water. On top of that, “desalinated water
typically costs about $2,000 an acre foot”, or as much water as a family of five uses annually.
The cost is also “double that of water obtained from building a new reservoir or recycling
wastewater, according to a 2013 study from the state Department of Water Resources.” Finally,
the costs are nearly four times those of using standard conservation methods such as drip
irrigation on farms and providing rebates to homeowners who use efficient toilets. The costs
truly are immense when you take a look at it with the current technology. One benefit is that the
technology continues to get better, but will these plants still be needed when the drought ends?
Another concern of building these plants is given by the example of what happened with
the plant in Santa Barbara after a drought ended in the 90s. A plant was finished in 1991, but was
shut down and abandoned after the city’s water problems were temporarily fixed. There are just
so many questions about desalination and its viability as a long-term solution for the state’s
water issues. As for the current measures, a reduction in water usage is important and is a step in
the right direction. One of the biggest issues facing the state is the fact that we have such a small
supply of water currently. Conservation and regulation on the usage of that limited supply is
great and Governor Brown has taken an important step towards buying the state time to find a
long-term solution. If that solution is greater regulation of usage or desalination, or even

3. something else is yet to be proven. One thing that’s for certain, this isn’t going to be the long-
term solution that will make California sustainable.