A Golden Age for the Golden State?

It’s a New Year.  A new presidential administration.  There’s a lot of talk about renaissance, rebirth, a… Golden Age.

It’s always good to be optimistic, to look forward with enthusiasm, to grow and improve.  Although not all change is necessarily good, when things have not been going well, change is necessary.

I think it’s safe to say that things have not been going well with the management of California’s water supplies.  The recent – and ongoing – devastating wildfires and urban conflagrations have not only destroyed homes and lives, but they have also emphasized a woeful lack of preparedness.  In many cases, the damage was magnified because there was no water to fight the flames.  A reservoir specifically constructed in response to a prior fire was empty.  Fire trucks were “in the shop” instead of available for use.  Manpower was short.

Lack of water storage capacity has been a critical problem in California for decades.  Many solutions have been proposed – but few have been implemented.  Priorities have been misplaced.

But crisis yields clarity.  Public safety is the government’s most important role.  Having enough water for human needs – whether growing crops or saving homes – is an important public safety issue.

One of the first actions taken by the new federal administration seeks to help California address this issue.  On January 20, the President issued a memo which states:  “I hereby direct the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the heads of other departments and agencies of the United States as necessary, to immediately restart the work from my first Administration by the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and other agencies to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply.”

Sometimes, it takes a catastrophe to instigate real change.  At WellJet®, we use our patented high-pressure hydrojetting process to restore flow and efficiency in groundwater wells.  All too often, we are not called in until after a well has suffered catastrophic failure.  The jetting process removes encrustation, opens clogged perforations, and breaks down obstructions in the gravel pack and near-wellbore formation.  In countless cases, WellJet® has brought back old wells back to useful life.  Rebirth, if you will.

Let us take this opportunity, born of tragedy, to reform California’s water policies – and also to save our wells.  The current crisis has shown that water is not just necessary to grow the crops which feed our nation, but to save our homes and livelihoods from destruction.  Water policy is public safety policy.

Let the Golden State enter the Golden Age!