With concerns already high about drying water resources, recent storms and floods in the state have spurred fresh debate about whether a decades-old adaptation strategy - capturing and storing rain and snowmelt - could provide a sustainable solution in California, and across the nation
While heavy winter storms alleviated California’s years of “megadrought,” experts say that capturing the rainwater presents a challenge and opportunity. One solution to harnessing the resource could be the recharging of underground water systems.
Torrential rains could have helped to replenish depleted aquifers, but some say state bureaucracy, designed to distribute water fairly, has stood in the way.