Faculty issue eco-warnings
BY Phil hampton
UCLA Today
Southern California and the rest of the Southwest need comprehensive water-conservation and drought-management strategies to prevent a water-supply crisis that looms despite last year’s record rainfall, according to Institute of the Environment (IOE) researchers.
The region remains vulnerable to a potential crisis because of overuse of Colorado River water, continued rapid population growth and the potential for long-term drought, said Glen MacDonald, professor of geography, ecology and evolutionary biology in the IOE’s eighth annual Southern California Environmental Report Card released Oct. 26.
MacDonald noted that California utilizes far more Colorado River water than it is allocated, but that such surplus water is unlikely to be available in the future as other states take greater shares to meet increasing demand.
“Because of the looming loss of Colorado River water, we need massive changes in the way we import and use water,” said Mary D. Nichols, institute director and former secretary of the California Resources Agency. Nichols also serves as president of the board overseeing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Tapping the expertise of other faculty members from the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Public Health and the School of Public Affairs, the latest report card also focuses on three other issues of environmental concern:
Increased funding and public support have helped to significantly improve the quality of treated wastewater and storm-water runoff reaching the ocean. But there is a need for more public education about the safety of water reclamation, better technology to enhance the effectiveness of beach closure regulations and increased efforts to reduce litter.
n Water-quality enhancements have allowed soft-bottom and kelp bed habitats in Santa Monica Bay to partially recover from extensive damage that began in the ’50s. But the lack of systematic assessments of fish populations in the bay means their status is unknown, and large numbers of visitors are affecting organisms in rocky intertidal areas.
n Leaks from underground fuel storage tanks and other releases of hazardous wastes in groundwater, surface water and soil are on the decline. But local government inspection rates often don’t meet state requirements, and public agencies have no uniform method to track compliance once a violation has occurred. The state needs to increase technical assistance and oversight to local governments and to establish higher fees to generate additional revenue for inspection and enforcement.
The institute is planning a series of four lectures and public discussions on each of the four report card chapters. The full report card and information on the lectures are available at www.ioe.ucla.edu. |
