Three more big Bay Area water agencies are calling on residents to conserve water as drought looms in California following two consecutive extraordinarily dry winters.
Board members with both the East Bay Municipal Utility District and Sonoma Water approved proclamations Tuesday to declare drought emergencies.
After two exceptionally dry California winters, the East Bay Municipal Utility District is on the brink of declaring a stage 1 drought and asking customers to establish a district-wide voluntary water use reduction of 10 percent.
The utility district’s board of directors is meeting Tuesday night and district staff members will present the 2021 Water Supply Availability and Deficiency Report and make the recommendation.
Bay Area water agencies, starved for snow and rain, are encouraged by this week’s storm system.
But managers say it’s too early to say if it will have a lasting impact.
Tens of thousands of Bay Area residents financially impacted during the COVID-19 crisis now face tens of millions of dollars in unpaid water bills, prompting both long-term financial and public health concerns.
That’s the conclusion of a new a report released Thursday by the non-profit public policy organization SPUR, and that looming potential crisis has experts concerned about vulnerable customers.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
