As a result of climate change, extreme weather, including drought, is likely to be more common in the future, challenging communities across California to find alternative sources of supply to meet our water needs.
Channelkeeper works to champion a shift to a more sustainable water supply portfolio that includes recycled water, rainwater capture and reuse, and increased conservation and water use efficiency. We believe that ocean desalination should only be used as an absolute last resort when all other less expensive and less environmentally harmful sources of water supply have been fully exhausted.
Learn more about desalination.
In 2016, Channelkeeper commissioned a study by a group of Masters students at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management to analyze the financial, energy and environmental costs of the various water supply sources currently used in southern Santa Barbara County as well as several new supply and demand reduction options that could be developed in the future. The study demonstrated that there is significant untapped potential to reduce demand and increase supply by improving water use efficiency, capturing rainwater, and recycling and reusing wastewater, while at the same time cutting energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, saving money, reducing pollution, and increasing our preparedness for future droughts.
Click here for a summary of the study’s findings, and here for the full report.
Channelkeeper also works to ensure that our groundwater aquifers, which serve as an important source of water supply in our region, are protected from pollution from agriculture and other sources, and are brought out of overdraft and managed sustainably in accordance with California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.