water is urban A planner’s nemesis. The built environment is so impermeable to liquids that water accumulates instead of seeping into the ground, thanks to all of the asphalt, concrete, and brick. It’s a way of causing extreme flooding, which has killed 19 people so far and caused an estimated $30 billion in damage.
Traditionally, engineers treated rainwater as a nuisance, building intricate infrastructure such as gutters and canals to channel it into rivers and oceans before cataclysmic floods became puddles. But in California and elsewhere, climate change is forcing a shift in that strategy. As the earth warms, more water evaporates from the land into the atmosphere, which itself can hold more water as it becomes hotter. Storms in the Golden State come less frequently, but when they do, they release more water faster.
Preparing for this flooded future, engineers are turning to alternative plans for flood control, allowing water to seep into natural aquifers underground. Plans like this would help mitigate flooding and at the same time help the western United States store more water, despite a chaotic climate. , how can we best utilize these giant underground sponges that can be used to supply drinking water?” says Catherine Cao Cushing, who studies sustainable water management at San Jose State University. increase.
California’s water system is tailored for a squirrel-rich Mediterranean climate. Fall and winter rains fill the system of reservoirs, supplying the entire state with water during the utterly dry summer months. But that system is strained during the drought that has devastated the state—the past three years being the driest three years since 1896. Some were nearly depleted. Now statewide reservoirs are approaching historical averages. That’s how epic this rainfall is.
A snowpack is also important. It grows at high altitudes during the winter months and melts to feed the reservoirs when temperatures rise. But Andrew Fischer, who runs the Recharge Initiative, which studies groundwater resources at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said climate models predict he’ll have lost a significant portion of the state’s snow cover by 2100. The department model says it all,” adds Fisher. “Let’s just let it sink in a bit. This is more water than is behind all the dams in the state. It’s too bad he can’t double the number of dams.” “
California is stepping up efforts to conserve water to keep people and agriculture hydrated. From installing low-flow toilets in homes to paying people to mow lawns that are bad for reasons other than thirst. We recycle wastewater from homes and businesses into ultra-pure water that is actually drinkable. But above all, it seeks to maintain, rather than drain, sporadic rainwater, building infrastructure to create “sponge cities.” These are popping up all over the world. The concept has been widely deployed in China, where city planners such as Berlin, Germany and Auckland, New Zealand are using it to deal with more intense rainfall.
