Nícola Ulibarrí’s research reveals abundance gap is about distribution, not supply
California doesn’t have a water scarcity problem. It has a distribution problem, according to Nícola Ulibarrí, whose new research is reshaping how policymakers think about one of the state’s most pressing challenges.
In a report commissioned by UC Berkeley’s Possibility Lab, Ulibarrí argues that California’s existing water infrastructure already collects enough water to sustain all state residents. The real crisis, says the UC Irvine associate professor of urban planning and public policy, is that thousands of Californians remain disconnected from that abundant supply.
“Water is already abundant for most California residents,” says Ulibarrí, whose work focuses on water policy and environmental governance. “The question isn’t how to create more water. It’s how to ensure everyone can access what we already have.”
While most Californians enjoy reliable tap water, Ulibarrí’s research highlights stark inequities.
Thousands of households, particularly in rural areas, remain unconnected to the state’s large-scale water infrastructure system. These residents depend on groundwater wells that can run dry during droughts or due to over-pumping by neighboring users.
The problem extends beyond access. Nearly a million California residents who are connected to the water system receive water that fails to meet federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards, according to Ulibarri’s findings.
Meanwhile, a growing number of households face affordability challenges as water prices climb faster than inflation.
Ulibarrí’s vision for “sustainable water abundance” represents a significant departure from traditional approaches to California’s water challenges, which often focus on increasing supply through new reservoirs, desalination plants or other extraction methods.
Instead, she advocates for three key interventions:
- expanding water recycling technologies,
- improving infrastructure to reach underserved communities, and
- redesigning utility rate structures to improve affordability.
Ulibarrí emphasizes that closing the equity gap does not require extracting more water from California’s natural ecosystems.
“By investing in the infrastructure and workforce of the water system, and by changing the design of utility rates to make them more affordable, California can sustain water abundance for generations to come,” she says.
Her water policy research is one of three reports examining how California can better meet residents’ basic needs despite the state’s apparent wealth.
The UC Berkeley Possibility Lab invited policy experts from across California in summer 2024 to reimagine approaches to water, food and public safety.
The other researchers — Anastasia Telesetsky on food policy and Mikaela Rabinowitz on public safety — similarly argue that California’s challenges stem not from absolute scarcity but from failures in distribution and allocation.
Ulibarrí’s water research offers a striking challenge to conventional wisdom: unlike food or public safety, water cannot simply be produced in greater quantities.
“Water is relatively unique among essential goods in that it is exceptionally difficult to create more of it,” Ulibarri notes. “The amount of water on Earth today is essentially the same as billions of years ago.”
The fixed supply makes distribution questions even more urgent, she says.
Call for action
All three researchers emphasize the need for stronger state government leadership. Ulibarrí specifically calls for California to “put more teeth” behind existing legislation that classifies water as a human right.
The findings come at a crucial time for California water policy, as the state faces ongoing drought concerns, growing populations and increasing demands from agricultural and urban users.
Ulibarrí’s full report is available through the UC Berkeley Possibility Lab’s Abundance Accelerator initiative, which aims to identify policy solutions that ensure all Californians have access to basic necessities.
For more information, visit the UC Berkeley Possibility Lab’s Abundance Accelerator website or read the full water policy memo by Ulibarrí.
— Mimi Ko Cruz
