The use of smart meters to enforce water restrictions could encourage widespread conservation — but not without local backlash, a new study has found. Amid California’s ongoing drought, researchers partnered with the city of Fresno in summer 2018 to access and identify water violations via household meter data.
A rare third straight year of La Niña is expected to bring warmer than average temperatures and worsening drought conditions to the Southland, also increasing the risk for fire danger.
Officials with the City of Burbank announced Tuesday that residents will be allowed to water their lawns and outdoor plants one day per week starting Nov. 1.
A Sustainable Water Use Ordinance is now in State III. The ordinance limits potable water usage for outdoor watering due to the California drought.
The stately residence had been consuming about 40,000 gallons of water a month, and had already received a warning and a fine for overuse. Amid the historic drought now entering its third painful summer, Gonzalez’s employer, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, has demanded this home and millions of others cut irrigation by 35 percent as of June 1.
After an atmospheric river unleashed a torrent of rain over Northern California in October, the state saw another moisture-rich system in November and then a parade of storms across December.
With a wet start this season, the rivers are rushing, the waterfalls flowing and the reservoirs beginning to rise. The snowpack is signaling a remarkable turnaround after two dry seasons. The Hyatt Power Plant is back online at Lake Oroville after it was forced to shut down due to historic low reservoir levels in August.
It’s been almost a month since the Bay Area’s last atmospheric river and the hope is there will be more rain in the coming weeks, so water restrictions can be eased.
California can hope that’s the fairytale like water story in Marin and Santa Cruz comes true statewide: eased restrictions. The two major atmospheric rivers and some other healthy rains came to the Bay region since October, working wonders for water supplies.
With snowpack and storage at historic lows, California and 95% of the West are suffering the worst drought in modern history. Marin and Santa Clara counties have imposed mandatory cutbacks, and other counties are considering the same. However painful, it is time for California to move quickly. Here are the steps — starting with the least intrusive and least expensive — that state and local government need to take now to avoid the dystopia that Cape Town, South Africa, endured in 2018 when the faucets ran dry.
With California’s extreme drought persisting and reservoirs declining to new lows, state officials said they will consider imposing mandatory water restrictions if dryness continues this winter. Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Californians in July to voluntarily reduce water use by 15%, saying state water regulators would track progress toward that target and decide whether additional measures would be necessary.
Surveying the recently scorched earth of Big Basin Redwoods State Park with the nation’s top environmental official this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged that it might be time for mandatory statewide water restrictions — in six weeks or so.
What is he waiting for?
Californians could soon face mandatory statewide water restrictions — but likely not until the end of September, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday.
The timing suggests the governor may be trying to avoid unpopular mandates before the Sept. 14 recall election — but California’s devastating drought and ever-expanding fire season have their own schedules.
Around 51,000 Californians could wake up this morning without power — a scenario Newsom undoubtedly would like to avoid as recall ballots hit voters’ mailboxes. Still, PG&E’s decision to start preemptively cutting power as humidity plummets and fierce winds buffet Northern California could help Newsom avoid an even worse situation — another massive wildfire igniting.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
