How Southern California Cities Can Manage Water
Abstract
Southern California faces a water crisis primarily due to inadequate water management and the increasing demands among growing urban populations. Climate change has exacerbated the region’s susceptibility to extreme temperatures, recurrent droughts, diminishing reservoirs, and reduced snowpack levels in the state, further jeopardizing the stability of water resources for city supply (Pitzer, 2017). Given the indispensable role of water in sustaining human life through hydration, food production, sanitization, and cooling, the inevitable threat of water scarcity is deeply troubling (United Nations, n.d.). The unsustainable consumption and excessive waste have underscored the urgency for solutions to ensure the longevity of water resources.
This proposal will primarily focus on Irvine, California, located in Orange County, to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing residential outdoor smart irrigation systems. As most sprinkling systems are manual, smart meter systems will provide an automatic and innovative solution to reducing outdoor water usage, tracking soil moisture, operating at the most accurate and efficient times to water residential lawns, and providing real-time data to track reliable consumer usage data to help politicians implement realistic and efficient water management policies. In addition, we plan to implement educational programs to enhance consumer understanding of the efficiency and effectiveness of smart irrigation systems to eliminate the barriers of human intervention. By sponsoring specific residents and communities, consumers can observe the positive financial and aesthetic benefits of smart water systems and feel encouraged to implement these innovative mechanisms into their lawns. Despite the high initial cost of smart meter technology, costing around $312 per installation, implemented across Irvine’s 66 square miles with 115,917 housing units, this measure will save 905.5 million gallons of water from excessive waste and bring new innovative ways to hold water usage accountable (Goldstein, 2015; Point2Homes, 2021; Irvine Ranch Water District, 2023)
