Thursday June 27, 2024
KQED —
One of the biggest questions surrounding California Forever’s ambitious proposal to build a city from scratch in eastern Solano County is about water, where it will come from and whether the company’s plan can withstand the inevitable yearslong drought.
Last week, the company released its long-awaited plan, outlining how it expects to provide water to a new city of 100,000 residents initially and that will eventually grow to serve 400,000 when it is fully built out.
“This will be the most sustainable city on Earth,” Bronson Johnson, the company’s head of infrastructure and sustainability, said to KQED. “We are creating a diverse portfolio of water supplies. It’s what you need to manage through drought conditions and what you need to manage seasonally.”
California Forever plans to use a combination of water sources to supply the needs of the new city, including tapping into groundwater and surface water rights, which the company already owns thanks to its purchase of more than 60,000 acres of farmland. Right now, the water is being used to irrigate “some marginal [almond] orchards that don’t produce very much,” according to CEO Jan Sramek.