Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 1st Draft of Research Proposal: Revitalizing San Diego’s Watersheds as Sustainable Water Systems Greening water infrastructure and utilizing regional watersheds to create a self-sustaining local water supply for the San Diego region A research proposal submitted to the Urban Studies and Planning Program University of California at San Diego October 29th, 2009 Elliot Seeto UCSD USP Senior Sequence: USP 186, Section A01 E-mail: eseeto@ucsd.edu Abstract: Supplying water for the San Diego metropolitan area is a crucial issue because of the growing population’s increasingly dangerous overuse and dependence upon imported water. However, current research suggests that through employing principles of effective watershed management and green planning, properly harmonizing infrastructure with natural hydrological systems opens the possibility for creating self-sustaining water systems. Therefore with such optimization, SD’s local water sources have the potential to meet at least a significant amount of water demand. This proposal will examine how effective SD region watersheds can be at supplying water if they are optimized and converted into alternative water sources. Research data on this will be gathered from archival records, GIS mappings, and analyses of relevant agencies’ implementation and management plans. This study will contribute to literature on sustainable development, watershed management, and California’s water crisis. Results will be shared with urban planners, governments, and water agencies—with the hope that these findings will be a step for SD towards becoming self-sufficient in its water supply. Key terms: sustainable development, green infrastructure, water self-sufficiency, regionally integrated watershed management 1 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 Introduction: Aside from the goals, motivations, and possible courses of action, the most basic objective of this research project is to determine the true potential of the San Diego regional watershed network to be tapped for water—perhaps enough water to provide for human consumption needs throughout the whole metropolitan area. As of now it is highly doubtful that most of these bodies of water possess the capacity to do so given their current state (NRDC, 2008); in fact, the conditions of many San Diego watersheds have become severely degraded due to human activity over the years, and thus are no longer capable of recharging and retaining the amount of water that they used to be able to. However, there is still hope that these damaged watersheds can be restored to their former glory if the right preparations are made. This is where the project begins to concern the watershed management and green infrastructure aspects. It takes watershed-based planning and management to nurse these aquatic bodies back to full health, and the integration of green infrastructure will help maintain them—even supplementing their abilities. If implemented correctly, effective watershed management “allows an adequate supply of water that is sustainable over many years.” (Heathcote 1998, 8) Thus, theoretically the combined power of the restored watersheds should be able to provide more water to the county; but because the water usage needs of San Diego and neighboring counties is particularly high, even that amount still might not be enough to meet the sizable demand without over-tapping. So if San Diego is to achieve water self-sufficiency, we must look towards green infrastructure to stretch this existing water supply. There are a number of options for this end: one such is replacing standard street pavement with pervious pavers, granting aquifers improved recharge as well as reduction of non-point source pollution from runoff; additionally, greywater and sewage can be reclaimed and then thoroughly treated to be recycled or returned to the 2 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 watershed; another example can be rainwater and runoff collection systems. Exploring these possibilities for the sake of establishing a potential local, watershed-based, renewable supply of water for San Diego County is the main goal of this research project. For the sake of clarity: a watershed is a hydrological drainage basin that often consists of a combination of a network of rivers, creeks, lakes, estuaries, wetlands, and underground aquifers. These aqueous bodies function first as gathering points for precipitated water like rain and snow, whether directly or through runoff. Second, almost all of the components of the watershed eventually meet and drain at common points—rivers flowing toward the ocean for example. Watersheds also generally have the natural ability to cleanse freshwater of toxins and impurities as it proceeds along the network, whether from the chemical treatments of wetlands or from the porous rock filtration of aquifers. These factors, in addition to being rich wildlife habitats, are the reasons why watersheds are extremely valuable natural resources. In a worstcase scenario, a heavily damaged watershed will lose not only its capacity to support wildlife and ability to filter water, but also will cause major disruptions to the regional hydrological cycle— which in turn would negatively impact surrounding environments and local climate patterns. Despite the critical role watersheds play in the Earth’s ecosystem, human activity has greatly harmed their functioning. For example, the San Diego River is hardly how it once was; throughout the history of human settlement, parts of it have been diverted, dammed, drained, dumped in, developed over, and overgrown by non-native plant species (Manson, 2008). The Colorado River is being tapped so heavily that it rarely even reaches the Mexican Sea of Cortez anymore (EPA, 2003). Patches of land that once were a part of lush riparian habitats now exist as dried-out chaparral, which happens to be the main fuel of arid Southern California’s massive wildfires. (NRDC, 2008) Overall, humans have unwittingly destroyed crucial resources that can 3 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 prove valuable to themselves—Southern California is facing a water crisis and yet its water resources are largely still abused and neglected—especially when we need these amenities more than ever. Conceptual Framework and Literature Review: As previously mentioned, the basic objective of this project is to determine what needs to be done to employ San Diego watersheds as local water sources, and the ultimate goal to this end is to find a viable sustainable water system for the region to become water self-sufficient. The primary motivation driving this investigation is the California Water Crisis, which is a growing dilemma of water shortages that keep worsening. San Diego, and much of Southern California for that matter, is especially vulnerable to this crisis. The San Diego Association of Governments offers a brief explanation why: “The San Diego region is a semi-arid environment, with a limited indigenous water supply. Our region is therefore dependent on a mix of local supplies and the importation of outside drinking water sources. These sources include water from the Colorado River, as well as the Northern California Delta system.” (SANDAG, 2002) Here one observes several factors as difficulties with water in San Diego: First, the semi-arid climate dries out moisture more quickly, so lawns and swimming pools require even more water than usual to maintain. Second, the supply of indigenous water is extremely limited when factoring in the overall population, so water must be imported from elsewhere—the water diverted from Northern California and Colorado canals. In fact, sometimes as much as up to 90% of all water consumed by the San Diego metropolitan population comes from the canals (City of San Diego Water Department, 2002). If something drastic were to occur at the distant source points, there is not too much Southern Californians will be able to do about it. In addition the constantly growing population creates an increasing demand for water consumption, which lately 4 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 has significantly reduced the available quantity for other populations downriver, such as Mexico (CRB 2003); if this is the case, then San Diego is next to get short-changed. The main strategy of previous and ongoing efforts to mitigate the impact of this water crisis in San Diego is an extensive series of public water conservation campaigns. This strategy includes such measures as reducing water consumption per capita, eliminating wasteful habits and practices, upgrading infrastructure to be water-efficient, and maintaining water quality by combating point-source pollution. These methods have their merits and address the crisis to a degree; however, this is not a real solution due to constant growth being the fundamental root of the problem (Bell, 1995). Thus even if water conservation efforts successfully reduce water usage per capita, the surplus of water saved is still insufficient for future needs because the total supply of water will stay fixed while the growing population’s water usage continues to increase. So because the supply of imported water will continue to dwindle despite conservation efforts, the only viable solution is to establish sustainable local water systems. As a result of the aforementioned factors, San Diego must become self-sufficient in its water supply through local sources so that it is prepared for the possibility of import canal cutoffs. Becoming self-sufficient for water also holds many benefits; for example, locally gathered and produced water is much easier to observe and manage, and even costs much less due to reduced shipping fees and less need for extensive transportation infrastructure (Bell, 1995). In addition, local control over the resource also means that revenues stay within the region, which is beneficial for those economies. And despite what SANDAG mentioned prior about the limits of San Diego’s indigenous water supply, the use of local water is still not completely disregarded because of the fact that the “extensive groundwater resources beneath the San Diego River provide a cost effective and reliable water supply to four local water districts and the City of San 5 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 Diego.” (Project Clean Water San Diego, 2009) Further supporting this claim, it has been measured that up to 30% of the water consumed by the population comes from groundwater extracted from underneath the San Diego River Watershed (SCC, 2008). Combining this piece of evidence with the knowledge that the San Diego River also happens to be one of the more degraded watersheds in the region—one can infer that if the river was restored back to full health, it would yield much more water. Then if this were applied to all of the region’s watersheds, there is a great possibility for local sources to replace water imports. On the other hand, even if these restorations and upgrades still do not make a real significant impact upon the overall water supply, the effort should be worthwhile anyway because it will have relieved at least some degree of water import dependence, as well as have provided other benefits. So despite the chance of a relatively low yield of extra water, another reason why taking the watershed approach is worthwhile is that San Diego can combine it with different alternative methods and work out a piecemeal sustainable water system. Within the region, there have been ongoing efforts focused on finding more alternative sources of sustainable water supplies through greening infrastructure, but not centered on watershed management. One of the most major projects for an alternative water source is the construction of reverse-osmosis seawater desalination plants. Costs, externalities, and overall feasibility have already been considered and researched, with solutions found to many of its implementation setbacks (Bell, 1995); as a result, desalination research now has the most popular support as an alternative sustainable water source. There is also research currently being conducted on “Toilet-to-Tap” programs, which function as closed-loop systems of treating and reusing recycled water. These alternate efforts are well underway and appear viable so far for being sustainable supplements to San Diego’s water supply (CWA, 2002). These separate efforts need not be mutually exclusive in the end, since it is 6 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 entirely possible to combine them so that each different method contributes to the overall system without the negative effects of overstraining any one source. Although such desalination and water recycling programs are being researched and implemented however, not nearly as much research has been conducted for this project’s option of maximizing existing watersheds for potential water extraction. This is in large part because implementing watershed management infrastructure such as eco-parks, bioswales, and restored floodplains receives positive reception from members of the general public mostly on the basis of aesthetic, recreational, and other such values: environmental beautification, outdoor recreation, wildlife preservation, and increased property values (Easley et.al., 2002). On the other hand, if watersheds and their associated infrastructure were recognized more as potential sustainable water sources, then there would be much a much greater incentive to begin pursuing these new developments as soon as possible, since the benefits will not be immediately realized, but rather in the long run. No matter what the reason or efficacy level of water sustainability, all possibilities for alternative renewable water supplies need to be investigated, and so this project will focus upon this watershed approach that needs more research. Research Design and Methods: An abundance of peer-reviewed, scholarly analysis on this specific topic using watershed management to create a sustainable water source is lacking because research in this particular field is relatively new. Therefore the theoretical effectiveness of such measures cannot be predicted with full confidence or supported by substantial real-world evidence, since these ideas are largely untested and still in the early stages of implementation. As a result, the research for this project must rely less on existing bodies of formal scholarly inquiry, and more on relevant organizations, expert experience, planning documents, policy analysis, and new data collection. 7 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 The main units of analysis will be at the watershed level, because watersheds are discrete environmental systems with physical limitations. Even though watersheds are linked to many other natural cycles and systems on multiple levels, the fact that they are delineated by physical constraints makes certain properties measureable. The San Diego region is comprised of twelve separate watersheds, each of different sizes, populations, land uses, and volume of potable water. For the sake of the study, assume optimal infrastructure will be in place for a centralized system that distributes water evenly, and that all contaminated water that would have been useable will be treated. Another variable factor in is the minimum amount of water that a watershed requires to be considered in healthy shape, since each one is quite different as stated. Several strategies will be employed to cover the different aspects of the project. Because it is impossible to instantly implement the ideal management practices and infrastructural changes to the watersheds or observe their long-term results, a number of indirect methods will have to suffice. First, in order to roughly estimate the surplus amount of water that will be generated through restoring the watersheds, we must uncover data on their current approximate total volumes of water, and the average amount of rainfall over their areas— whichever units can be consistently compared across all of the watersheds. Then to fathom an idea of how they will appear after the restoration, we will seek out archival data on the amount of water retained by the watersheds before human interference—when they were in optimal health. One more consideration to make in measuring the harvestable amount of water from watersheds is any additional contribution by related infrastructure—whether it is collected rainwater from storm drains and pervious pavers or reclaimed water that is sent back into the system. Once these values are figured out, the rough effectiveness of watershed restoration can be gauged by comparing the new total harvestable amount of water with the amount that San Diego consumes, 8 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 and then further comparison will be made with the amount of water currently imported through canals, as well as future growth patterns in water demand. Then for the sake of gauging the viability of a combined sustainable water system, these figures will be compared with the amounts of water produced through such other alternative efforts as desalination and toilet-to-tap. If the difference in restored watershed quantities turns out to be negligible or insufficient to directly extract water from regularly, then we must investigate different aspects of the relationship. What is considered to be sustainable is highly susceptible to scale—for example, certain ecosystems may easily accommodate a few hundred people easily, but any more than that and it will start to collapse. Thus even though optimizing a watershed with green infrastructure may not supplement enough additional water for human consumption, it may be instead just enough to revive plants and wildlife. So even if there is not enough extra water to extract directly for human use, the changes may have just enough of an influence to mitigate the effects of climate change, which indirectly affects the overall useable water supply on a larger scale. As an intern for the San Diego River Park Foundation, additional data and information on watersheds in the region are easily accessible. By analyzing plans and policies provided by development organizations and planning collaborators, cross-comparisons and past case studies can be conducted in order to predict such effects as implementing certain management practices or types of infrastructure. Geographical information systems are more tools which can be utilized for mapping out and identifying key features of watersheds, such as separate bodies of water, floodplains, reservoirs, aquifers, and terrain for surveying purposes. Over the course of the next few weeks, this project will still be susceptible to many changes depending on what additional data or research will be uncovered; or conversely, what necessary data cannot be found. If investigating and measuring all twelve watersheds proves to 9 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 be overwhelming with too many confounding variables, then efforts will be focused upon a single watershed, such as the San Diego River Watershed. In this case, the watershed’s potential capacities will be compared with the population residing within its borders, and the project will concentrate more on feasible application such infrastructural changes to all watersheds in the region. Either way, the more specific variables, limitations, spatial dimensions, and concrete methods will be determined no later than two weeks before the end of the fall quarter, so that a feasible scope of this project’s focus will be figured out. Once this is completed, actual measurements and original data collection may begin by the end of fall, lasting through the middle of winter quarter. Conducting this research should not require any direct monetary cost to complete. Any accrued expenses will probably be due to transportation fees for fieldwork and research outside of campus. Otherwise, the bulk of research through the library, internet, and GIS mapping remains cost-free. Conclusions (Expected Outcomes/Deliverables): The most basic objective of this project is to determine the San Diego regional watershed network’s true ability to supply water. The full potential for this can be visualized through the analysis of proper regional integrated watershed management practices, as well as the greening of water-based infrastructure. Research will be aimed at determining the nature of the relationship between these changes and attaining a sustainable water supply for use by the local population—basically, by determining what management practices and infrastructure can possibly optimize the functioning of a watershed in increasing its capacity for water storage, its ability to retain water, and its capability of cleanse water. The ultimate goal for this end is to find how this may contribute to a sustainable water system which would at least greatly assist San Diego in becoming self-sufficient in its water supply. Incentives for achieving self-sufficiency 10 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 include decreased costs to consumers in the long run and the preservation of natural eco-systems; however, the primary motivation behind this research is discovering ways to mitigate or even avert California’s water crisis. If there is such a connection, a deeper understanding can be reached on not only how the regional watersheds function, but also about the real benefits and efficacy of related green infrastructure, such as eco-parks and bioswales. If the research results yield data strongly indicating that careful watershed management and green infrastructure actually increase and maintain a local water supply to the point of being able to sustain much heavier consumption than previously, then perhaps there is a possibility these findings can be adopted by planners for the sake of creating sustainable watershed systems everywhere. 11 Elliot Seeto USP 186 (FA’09) October 29th, 2009 Bibliography: Bell, Jim. 1995. Achieving Eco-Nomic Security. 2nd edition. San Diego, CA: Ecological Life Systems Institute (ELSI). California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC). 2008. San Diego River Watershed Data Collection and Restoration Program: Implementation Plan. Oakland, CA. City of San Diego Water Department. 2002. City of San Diego Long-Range Resources Plan. Colorado River Board of California (CRB). 2003. California’s Colorado River Water Use Plan. Glendale, CA. Easley, Sarah; Redick, Leslie; Turnbull, Katie and Zhang, Wei. San Diego River Park Foundation. 2002. San Diego River Park Conceptual Plan. San Diego, CA. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2003. US-Mexico Border 2012 Program. 2008. Water Recycling and Reuse: The Environmental Benefits. Heathcote, I. W. 1998. Integrated Watershed Management: Principles and Practice. 1st ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Letey, J. 1999. Science and policy in integrated watershed management: a case study. Journal of the American Water Resource Association 35: 603-608. Manson, Bill. There is no San Diego River. San Diego Reader. Oct. 22nd, 2008: San Diego, CA. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). 2008. Hotter and Drier: The West’s Changed Climate. New York, New York. Project Clean Water San Diego. 2009. San Diego’s Watersheds. San Diego, CA. San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). 2002. Water element. Regional Growth Management Strategy. San Diego County, CA. San Diego County Water Authority (CWA). 2002. Negative declaration: water. Distribution Regional Growth Management Strategy, SANDAG. San Diego County, CA. 12