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Wednesday August 17, 2022

KCRW

The American West is in the midst of a historic drought and within the next 20 years, California is expected to lose 10% of its water supply as climate change brings more extreme weather. That’s according to Governor Gavin Newsom. 

He’s announced an ambitious, multi-billion dollar plan that addresses stormwater capture, groundwater management, land repurposing, and other issues. It also brings on former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as the state’s new infrastructure adviser, who will help move these projects along. 

For more than a century, Californians have lived in a relatively wet period. Now the drought is prompted by naturally occurring dry periods, plus climate change-induced higher temperatures, says Felicia Marcus, a fellow at Stanford University’s Water in West program and the former chair of the State Water Resources Control Board. 

“The geophysical record shows we’ve had 40-2024 and 400-year drought. … We need to accelerate everything we can do to retrofit ourselves to use water more wisely — because we use it pretty wastefully right now,” Marcus explains.

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