The new edition of the California Water Plan (Bulletin 160-13) was recently finalized by the California Department of Water Resources. Interestingly, the new edition determined that in an average water year agriculture used 200,000 acre-feet less than previously thought. While this does not change the overall percentages of water use in the state, it is important to note that agricultural water use during an average water year is 41 percent of applied water. This is important factual information amidst all the media coverage of the California drought, much of which has erroneously reported this information.
The chart below, which is based on information in the final 2013 California Water Plan, also shows the important and varied environmental water uses and urban uses throughout California.
The California Water Plan also determined that instream flows garner an even larger share of applied water in the Sacramento Valley than previous versions. As a result, instream flow’s share of applied water has increased to 19 percent (from 17 percent in previous documents), and irrigated agriculture and required delta outflow have each decreased one percentage point. The final percentages are shown in the chart below.
The statewide information is from the California Water Plan, pages 3-31 through 3-35, using 2010 data shown on page 3-35 as the best example of an average year, as recommended by the Department of Water Resources: California Water Today.
The Sacramento Valley data, also reflecting 2010 water use, is located in the Sacramento River Hydrologic Region chapter on page SR-65.
