After facing criticism, California water regulators have proposed new conservation rules that would ease requirements for urban suppliers and lead to smaller statewide water savings than originally planned.
In California and across the country, household water rates have been rising as utilities invest to upgrade aging infrastructure, secure future supplies and meet treatment standards for clean drinking water. As monthly water bills continue to increase, growing numbers of customers have been struggling to pay.
For Nevadans at the forefront of the West’s water crisis, snowpack in the Rocky Mountains that eventually trickles down to Lake Mead is always front of mind. Following an incredibly wet year that brought the Colorado River basin a brief reprieve, early signs point to a less impressive snowpack this time around, said Paul Miller, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service’s Colorado Basin River Forecast Center in Salt Lake City.
The recent rains which drenched Southern California over the last several months were a very good thing, said Adel Hagekhalil, the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, as he addressed the Pasadena City Council Monday, but he added, “We can’t be victims to hydrology. We can’t be victims of climate change. What we need to do is prepare for it.”
California’s snowpack is above average this winter following a series of storms that replenished one of the state’s most crucial water supplies, but still far behind where it stood during last year’s especially wet winter.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power captured nearly 14 billion gallons of stormwater last month, an 8.4 billion-gallon increase over the rainwater captured in February of 2023, Mayor Karen Bass announced.
California is beginning to identify places to store storm water after concerns that groundwater supplies are decreasing. The California Department of Water Resources has recently announced its new groundwater mapping project that will “provide critical information” about the underground water supply, it said in a statement.
Time is running out for the West’s wet season, but recent storms have done wonders for the snowpack and the drought across much of the region, especially in California.
Amid rising costs and decreasing sales, San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) is navigating the complexities of water management by considering the sale of its costly desalinated water, while simultaneously exploring options for the expansion of its desalination capabilities.
San Diego has surpassed its annual rainfall average since the water year began on Oct. 1, according to the National Weather Service. San Diego has seen an above-average rainy season. Since the water year began on Oct. 1, San Diego International Airport has received 10.31 inches of rain, which has now surpassed San Diego’s annual average of 9.79 inches.
