“The memory of life arrived on this earth carried by the soul of water. From this memory, life awoke, the human being emerged…”
― Masaru Emoto, Hidden Messages in Water
Hendry’s Beach, Santa Barbara, CA
After the Walking Water pilgrimage in the Owen’s Valley in September, 2015, I was inspired to understand the water situation in my home town of Santa Barbara, CA more intimately. I realized that although I am quite familiar with hiking the local watersheds, creeks and canyons, am an experienced backcountry traveller and consider myself an activist, I don’t really know where the water comes from…. I mean, I know the water comes from god, spirit, love ultimately in a constant cycle of change and transformation; I know life began and begins in water; I know water is life and as Masaru Emoto alludes to in the above quote, we are born of water. Yet, where does the water come from in this region?
Of course, there has been much attention focused on water in this buzzing beach town, as we have been faced with intermittent droughts over the years, the current drought now in its fourth year.
I remember often walking the hills and imagining this place prior to first European contact. The abundance of waterways, wildlife and vegetation before the resulting devastation and genocide of the Chumash people. Of course, the Chumash, like indigenous folks all around the world, engaged traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom to tend their home and “manage” the “resources” with the understanding of interconnected relationships. Still now, Chumash folks I know, tell stories of this land, water and animals that are rich with the intimacy of place and the ecology of relations. I want to learn the native names of the watersheds and rivers of Santa Barbara County. Names that likely came from a deep and old way of listening.
Santa Barbara is located in the incredible natural beauty where the mountains meet the sea. There are multiple watersheds that make up the diverse source water profile of Santa Barbara – namely the Santa Ynez River Watershed and the Santa Barbara Coastal Watershed. Within each watershed are a variety of sources that comprise a water profile. Santa Barbara city obtains water from five main sources. (The percentages vary from year to year depending on rainfall and other conditions: for a graph go here). So, here it is, where we get our water:
3-6% Recycled water: Through various filtration processes municipal wastewater is reclaimed and treated to remove sediments and impurities so it can be reused. It is mostly used for landscaping in city parks, schools and commercial properties. A desalination plant was approved and built in 1991, during the 1987 – 1991 drought, and only operated for a few months until the rains returned. The plant is currently under renovation and expected to reopen late this year or early next year. The current estimated cost of this project is $55 million (and rising), which the SB City Council voted to approve in July 2015. I am not sure how much of the water that is recycled is actually used. In some California cities, a large percentage of treated water goes directly to the ocean.
6-9% Groundwater: Pumping and wells from very well managed underground aquifers. Unlike other areas, the city of Santa Barbara has “pueblo” water rights; which prevent property owners from drilling their own wells and racing each other to the bottom of the the barrel, as is the case in most of the county and state. Due to overuse and mismanagement, aquifers are being depleted all over the world and groundwater supply is rapidly diminishing. Groundwater is limited, and although aquifers can often be replenished, sometimes it can take centuries. Until recently, California, which uses more groundwater than any other state, was the only state without a groundwater management plan. Although the state now has regulation in the works, it is estimated that the current plan will take approximately 30 years to implement. Groundwater management is a huge issue all over the planet. Good management makes a difference: while Montecito’s groundwater is rapidly dropping, Santa Barbara’s tends to be so full that even two years into the drought the aquifers were brimming with water flowing out of the wellheads. Furthermore, two years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency closed eleven injection wells in California, most of which were illegally dumping wastewater into “protected” groundwater aquifers. A study in the journal Water Resources Research warned that 21 of the world’s 37 largest aquifers aren’t being recharged fast enough to meet the demands of agriculture and industry (see Earth Island Institute for more details).
15% State Water Project: During the drought in 1991, Santa Barbara voted to buy into the already existing State Water Project (SWP). A 102 mile branch pipeline was extended from the 700 mile State Aqueduct, which diverts water from Northern California rivers and the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California. Incidentally, Montecito and Santa Ynez generally get more than 50% of their water from the SWP. There are over 21 dams that support this project, which is the largest consumer of power in the state. Furthermore, the Bay Delta estuary is being depleted, causing habitat degradation, native species loss, invasive species, loss of wetlands…. and a pretty out of balance ecosystem.
In 2014-15, SWP water was cut back extensively due to the drought, and Santa Barbara received 0%-10% of its regular water supply from SWP. Furthermore, the city has not yet paid the full cost of being connected to the state aqueduct.
15-20% Usable surface water (reservoirs & local streams): Primarily Gibraltar Reservoir & Mission Tunnel (basically a giant horizontal well). Water from Gibraltar and the Mission Tunnel is now set up to generate electricity as it drops from the “lake” high on the back side of the mountains to the treatment plant low on the front side.
50% Cachuma Reservoir: “Lake” Cachuma is the largest reservoir in the area. The Bradbury dam was built in 1953 and since then water has been pumped from the Santa Ynez River through the mountains behind Santa Barbara via a 6.4 mile tunnel. An emergency pump system was recently installed so that during times of drought when water levels are too low to activate the gravity fed system, water is still able to be transported. It was activated for the first time last year.
Along the Santa Ynez River
Wouldn’t it be great if …we could harvest and collect all the water we need? we did not use more water than we have locally? we didn’t import water?! Even in these times of little rain, there are water workers and solutions that could help us do just that. (I was surprised to learn that SB has been recognized for its water conservation efforts, with per capita water use falling several gallons below other Southern California cities. Though I appreciate our efforts, and I, like many others, have my 5 gallon bucket in the shower for water capture, it still seems only a drop in the bucket!
It is a great time to observe the water flow patterns on the land and begin to implement rain water catchment, harvesting and storage systems. Permaculture techniques help us slow, spread and sink the water that moves across a landscape, rather than transporting it to the drains and ocean as quickly as possible. Grey water systems help us reuse the water, and catchments aid us in water storage.
We are lucky to have a community with great water resources which hydrate our area and beyond. Thank you to all those who are working on behalf of water and life. Here are a few: Oasis Design – Specializes in deep green integrated designs for water supply, greywater reuse, edible landscaping, passive solar, fire-safe architecture, etc. Offers books on greywater reuse and water storage, including 500 page web site on these topics. Sweetwater Collaborative – Offers hands-on, community-based workshops in people’s homes and neighborhoods, helping each other install sustainable systems and make Low Impact Development and living within our regional water budget more a part of the landscape of our homes and neighborhoods. Quail Springs Permaculture Center – Permaculture is an integrated design science based on ecological principles that create resource efficient and productive human environments. Permaculture brings sustainable and regenerative design to our basic needs for shelter, water, food, and energy. Permaculture education is at the heart of every course offered at Quail Springs. Tree People (Los Angeles) – Inspires and supports the people of LA to come together to plant and care for trees, harvest the rain, and renew depleted landscapes. Uniting with communities to grow a greener, shadier and more water-secure city at homes, neighborhoods, schools and in the local mountains. Project Clean Water– County of SB, Water Resources Division, Public Works Department. This is a totally incomplete list… Check out the many more water resources, projects, permaculture designers & activists, water workers online!
One more thing… Although the city claims the tap water is safe and since 2013 local treatment plants have replaced the cancer causing chlorine treatment with ozone, I still don’t drink unfiltered tap water. Let’s dance for the rain!!! And do our best to LOVE and HONOR the water. Thanks for reading.
Sources:
Art Ludwig of Oasis Designs – Thank you Art for the imput on this blog post!
http://www.scpr.org – Drought: 10 Things to know about CA Water Use (April 15, 2015)
http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=49211
http://kirsten.tilleman.info – Source Water Profile: Santa Barbara County, CA (August 16, 2012)
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist383/Water.html
Alexis at Hendry’s Beach, SB
Tracking Destiny 