1. Unified Valley Water Plan Shows a Massive Water Supply Gap — Even With $20 Billion in Infrastructure The Stantec consulting team presented Chapter 6 of the Unified Valley Water Plan, revealing that the San Joaquin Valley faces a projected water supply gap of 2.5–3 million acre-feet per year by 2040. Even under the most optimistic scenario — combining restored canal capacity, local recharge projects, and increased Delta access — the gap cannot be fully closed. Best-case projections still leave ~0.5–0.9 million acre-feet unmet and 200,000–400,000 acres needing to be repurposed, at a total infrastructure cost of $13–20 billion. Growers in the Tulare Lake basin are particularly affected, as those sub-basins show the largest remaining shortfalls.
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