Water Specialist: Dwindling Supply Means Lifestyle Changes Ahead

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 4, 2008 at 10:32 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

One water specialist says the future water supply for our region doesn't look promising. That's because climate change models suggest that key supply sources will provide less water ten years from now

One water specialist says the future water supply for our region doesn't look promising. That's because climate change models suggest that key supply sources will provide less water ten years from now. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

Research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows the Colorado River system is on the verge of being unstable. Another key supply source for San Diego -- the Sacramento River Delta -- is also in trouble.

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Mike Dettinger is a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist based at Scripps. He says shifts toward an earlier spring and more rain than snow means we'll have to make changes in how we use water.

Dettinger : These aren’t changes to get us through this year and hope that next year is wet. These are changes that we would have to dedicate ourselves to for the long haul.

Dettinger says building new reservoirs and fixing Delta levies takes time and the future is here now.

Dettinger : It takes 10, 15, 20 years to get structures into place to do those things so this is coming quickly.

He says conservation measures can help, but conservation alone won't add new water if climate change predictions become reality.

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Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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