When drought strikes, California farmers often pump water from underground aquifers to water their crops. But increasingly dry conditions are straining that resource. “On average, over time, we have been extracting more water from the subsurface than has been recharged,” says David Freyberg of Stanford University. He says many people are looking at ways to replenish the state’s dwindling groundwater supplies.
A long-standing drought in the American Southwest is getting worse by the day, threatening reservoirs and groundwater supplies. And the first sign of “serious damage” could be a whirlpool, according to the operators of the nation’s second-largest reservoir, Lake Powell, reports the Washington Post.
Californians should brace for another year of brown lawns, tight water restrictions and increased calls for conservation as state water managers Thursday warned that severely reduced allocations are once again likely in 2023.
It’s not easy enforcing water regulations in the West. Just ask the officials in California who have been trying for almost a decade to penalize a man who took water from the river system that feeds San Francisco and bottled it for sale to stores like Starbucks.
California water agencies that serve 27 million people will get just 5% of what they requested from the state to start 2023, water officials announced Thursday. The news of limited water comes as California concludes its driest three-year stretch on record and as water managers brace for a fourth year with below-average precipitation.
For the second year in a row, the State Water Project will cut deliveries to 5% of requested supplies amid a continuing drought that officials Thursday termed “a new era.” The network of 21 dams and hundreds of miles of canals, pipelines and tunnels serves 27 million Californians from Chico through the Central Valley to Los Angeles, though not San Diego County.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s First Aqueduct will be shut down periodically over the next four months as work begins for maintenance projects to ensure a safe and reliable water supply for the region. A series of three shutdowns on the First Aqueduct is scheduled from December through March, when portions of the aqueduct will be relined, along with other maintenance.
As work begins, the Water Authority and its member agencies are coordinating to minimize impacts to residents and businesses, while servicing pipelines that are more than 65 years old.
Customers of these affected retail agencies during the Dec. 5-14 shutdown should check with their local water utility if they have questions about localized impacts: Fallbrook Public Utility District, Rainbow Municipal Water District, Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District, Vallecitos Water District, Valley Center Municipal Water District, Vista Irrigation District, and the Yuima Municipal Water District.
“Proactively managing our water delivery system in coordination with our member agencies ensures we continue to provide a safe and reliable supply that serves the region’s 3.3 million residents and our $240 billion economy,” said Eva Plajzer, the Water Authority’s director of operations and maintenance. “It requires an extraordinary amount of work each fall and winter during the shutdown season to take care of this critical infrastructure.”
Maintenance work on pipelines is scheduled during low-demand periods to minimize impacts on water service. The other scheduled shutdowns on the First Aqueduct are January 23 to February 1 and February 27 to March 8. The February 27 to March 8 shutdown will also impact the Helix Water District and the cities of San Diego, Poway and Ramona.
It’s been seven years since the Little Hoover Commission — a state watchdog agency — warned of disaster ahead because of deteriorating conditions at the Salton Sea. This intensely salty 300-plus-square-mile lake in Imperial and Riverside counties was created by Colorado River flooding in 1905-1907, which filled up the below-sea-level Salton Trough.
Four years ago, when the San Diego City Council approved paying tens of millions of dollars to relocate utility pipes and other equipment to make room for the ambitious Pure Water project, city officials insisted they would recover the money from San Diego Gas & Electric. That didn’t happen. The city sued San Diego Gas & Electric in 2020, saying that the company violated its franchise agreement by refusing to pay to move its equipment.
A new report by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) seeks to “dispel a common myth” by declaring there will be no end to agriculture— “as some have envisioned.” The researchers conclude the industry and communities will continue to thrive, despite a rapidly shrinking footprint from water restrictions. “California’s farmers have shown an extraordinary capacity for adaptation to changes in prices, technology and the regulatory environment,” they note.
