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HISTORIC RAIN, YET DROUGHT REMAINS ■ F.E. Weymouth Water Treatment Plant and Quality Control Laboratory ■ Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant in Carson INVESTIGATION AND ANALYSIS Climate The current state of our climate is a prolonged drought. To survive, local sources of water need to be more resilient. Throughout Earth's evolution, there have been and continue to be impacts on its climate. The continents have been drifting since there was a super continent, Pangea, 175 million years ago. The resulting different geographic locations have differing climate conditions which are still evolving. These "climate changes" have been extensively studied and documented by paleo-climatologists, and their data has been used to forecast what climate conditions will most probably be in the future. "The current state of our climate is a prolonged drought. To survive, local sources of water need to be more resilient. " Today's scientists and climatologists agree that Earth is changing due to evolutionary cycles and that climate warming is being acutely exacerbated and accelerated by the effects of human activities. Worldwide, glaciers are receding, sea levels are rising, and permafrost melting. Many global regions that were historically self-sufficient for potable water are now in periods of extended drought where precipitation is a declining resource. Orange County is directly affected by the resulting effects of climate change, evidenced by water reduction mandates and the various proposed means and methods to capture, recycle, and store more water. This report acknowledges climate change and its effects on the people of Orange County. It examines whether the current proposed means and methods for securing more water are sufficient to sustain the projected growth in the county and support the green and vibrant lifestyle to which its inhabitants have become accustomed. As evidenced over the past five decades, the durations and resulting expectations from the seasons in this geographic region of the U.S. (Western) have dramatically changed. Winters have seen declining periods of sustained precipitation, and summers are hotter, longer, and drier. This has directly affected the rivers, lakes, streams, dammed reservoirs above ground and aquifers below ground that rely on melted snow and rain for continued and reliable replenishment. Paleo-climatologists have validated the past ORAtq(61 1F GRAND JURY 2022 1 2023 7-9 1 1/2�Qp4f 57