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california Water Today 79 <br />Figure 2.5 <br />Groundwater dependence varies widely across California <br />sOURcE: california department of Water Resources (2009). <br />NOTEs: The figure shows total groundwater withdrawals as a share of total gross water use in the urban and agricultural sectors in <br />the period 1998–2005. The dry and wet year shares refer to 2001 and 1998, respectively. <br />Groundwater overdraft and unregulated pumping is a source of grow- <br />ing conflict among water users in many parts of the state, with repercussions <br />including higher costs of pumping, aquifer damage from saltwater intrusion, <br />reduced groundwater availability during droughts, above-ground infrastruc- <br />ture damage from sinking lands, and environmental damage to wildlife in <br />adjacent streams (Chapters 3, 5, 6). <br />Apart from natural reuse, water reuse also can involve more engineered (and <br />more expensive) treatment and recycling of urban wastewater. The volumes are <br />still quite small: 0.2–0.5 maf/year by the mid-2000s—or about 0.5 percent to <br />1 percent of California’s agricultural and urban use.4 The amount might rise <br />considerably—to 2 million acre-feet—in the next few decades (Recycled Water <br />Task Force 2003; California Department of Water Resources 2009). To date, <br />recycled water has primarily been used for crop or landscape irrigation, because <br />the stigma of treated wastewater has prevented potable reuse. However, several <br />Southern California agencies are now looking to follow the lead of Orange <br />4. According to the state’s Recycled Water Task Force (2003), over 200 treatment plants produced between 450 to 580 taf/ <br />year by 2002. The most recent California Water Plan update estimates that recycled municipal water provided between <br />0.2 and 0.5 maf/year between 1998 and 2005 (California Department of Water Resources 2009). <br />Wet year <br />Dry year <br />Share of gross urban andagricultural water use (%)Colora <br />d <br />o <br />Riv <br />er <br />South L <br />a <br />h <br />o <br />nta <br />n <br />North La <br />h <br />o <br />nta <br />n <br />Tulare <br />B <br />asi <br />n <br />San J <br />oa <br />q <br />ui <br />n <br />Riv <br />er <br />Sacra <br />m <br />e <br />nt <br />o <br />Riv <br />er <br />South <br />C <br />oast <br />Central <br />C <br />oast <br />San Fra <br />ncisc <br />o <br />Bay <br />Ar <br />e <br />a <br />North <br />C <br />oast <br />Califor <br />nia st <br />at <br />e <br />wi <br />d <br />e <br />90 <br />80 <br />70 <br />60 <br />50 <br />40 <br />30 <br />20 <br />10 <br />100 <br />0