In an interview with ABC10, Sudman talked about her book and the future of California’s water policy.
Rita Sudman: I have to say that my coauthor, Stephanie Taylor, came up with the idea and pushed me to work with her on a book that would contain the history of the major watersheds, the stories of past and present real people involved with water issues, policy discussions by myself and brief essays by key diverse interest leaders and last – but certainly not least – her great art work depicting the water landscape.
Central Valley growers were not able to get the water from the state and federal projects due to the drought and the endangered fish issues, so they turned to groundwater and they pumped in a big way.
It’s been a year since your book came out.
He said, “It’s about the water.” California and the six other states sharing the Colorado River are arid states and the scarcity in those states sets up the conflict.
Actually, agriculture uses about 80 percent of the water we have put behind dams, although growers have made great strides in water efficiency in the last 25 years.
In drought years, groundwater supplies over two-thirds of the state’s water.
Policy makers in the legislature are often proposing state water bonds to finance projects and programs in years when the public is aware of problems.
In recent years, we have seen a major flood bond pass right after the Katrina disaster and this helped California improve levees.
We have always had cycles of drought and wet years in California but now we will see more.