ABSTRACT
California’s coastal cities have long relied on imported water from the Sierra Nevada to meet their freshwater demands. Yet these historic water infrastructure systems are highly vulnerable to changing precipitation patterns. Many changes must be made to California’s urban water systems for them to be resilient to a changing climate while meeting new state policies of co-equal goals of water supply and restoring river ecosystems. This chapter focuses on the case of the San Francisco Bay Area, where stormwater capture and water reuse may be part of the solution to securing water supplies in the future. Advancing stormwater capture and water reuse as new water supplies and diversifying the water supply portfolio will require regional collaborative networks among agencies that traditionally work in very separate silos, such as drinking water, stormwater and wastewater management. Development of these future water supplies must be done thoughtfully, with deep engagement from diverse stakeholders throughout the process, to result in equitable and sustainable water systems.
