Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed B1740 yesterday, investing $1.2 billion over three years to fund projects that will bring additional water to the state to secure Arizona’s water future, improve existing water infrastructure and implement effective conservation tools.
The projects will help ensure that Arizona families, businesses and agriculture continue to have adequate long-term water supplies.
California has experienced some of the driest months in our state’s history. Currently scientists say that we’re experiencing the worst megadrought in the last 1200 years. That prompted Governor Newsom to order new emergency water rules and cutbacks. But San Diego has been leaning into conservation for some time and we are uniquely positioned to weather these water supply-related woes. San Diegans know how to conserve water, but there is always more we can do.
Californians are starting to save water, but not enough to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call for conservation in the face of one of the worst droughts in recorded history.
Urban water use fell 3.1% in May compared to the 2020 baseline set by the governor, according to figures released Friday by the State Water Resources Control Board.
While that’s well short of the 15% call issued by Newsom last July, it does show that Californians are beginning to heed the governor’s call for reduced consumption. Water use actually rose in March and April, according to water board data.
With a megadrought draining water reserves in the West, states are looking for alternatives to handle water rights, many of which were set more than 100 years ago when water supplies were far more abundant.
Back then, just posting a sign next to a water diversion was enough to be considered a right, one which could still be honored now. But the climate crisis is now straining those rights. There just isn’t enough water in California to satisfy what’s been allotted on paper.
It is unlikely the Sacramento area will receive a substantial amount of rain anytime soon, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasts for this weekend show temperatures climbing above the average for this time of year which is around 94 degrees, weather service spokesman Craig Shoemaker said.
And it’s expected to remain dry in the area for awhile.
As water interests in the Colorado River Basin prepare to negotiate a new set of operating guidelines for the drought-stressed river, Amelia Flores wants her Colorado River Indian Tribes to be involved in the discussion. And she wants CRIT seated at the negotiating table with something invaluable to offer on a river facing steep cuts in use: its surplus water.
CRIT, whose reservation lands in California and Arizona are bisected by the Colorado River, has some of the most senior water rights on the river.
“Are you going to run out of water?” is the first question people ask when they find out I’m from Arizona. The answer is that some people already have, others soon may and it’s going to get much worse without dramatic changes.
Unsustainable water practices, drought, and climate change are causing this crisis across the U.S. Southwest. States are drawing less water from the Colorado River, which supplies water to 40 million people.
California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced financial support to four urgent drought relief projects in Humboldt, Los Angeles, Modoc, Shasta, and Siskiyou counties through the Small Community Drought Relief Program.
In coordination with the State Water Resources Control Board, DWR awarded $2 million in funding to support four projects that will improve drought resilience and address local water needs.
Farmers and cities on the east side of the Valley may get more water than they originally thought.
Friant Water Authority, which operates the Friant-Kern Canal, said in a recent memo on its website it is confident its contractors will not only get the 15% allocation of surface water deliveries announced in February but that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will likely increase the amount to 20%, possibly as early as this week.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Wednesday that will provide $1.2 billion over three years to boost long-term water supplies for the desert state and implement conservation efforts that will see more immediate effects.
The legislation that was hammered out over months during the just-completed legislative session is viewed as the most significant since the state implemented a groundwater protection plan in 1980.
