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California Officials Warn of More Water Restrictions in 2023 as Fourth Year of Drought Looms

California cities and farms should brace for little or no water from the state’s big reservoirs in the coming year, a prospect that signals more water restrictions for households and more fallowed fields in the farm belt.

The warning was delivered Monday by state and federal water officials who said they are preparing for the possibility of a fourth year of drought. Both are considering, at least initially, reduced allocations for the many water agencies that contract for reservoir supplies from California’s sprawling water projects.

New Cracks Found in Lake Hodges Dam Will Lengthen Repair Work, Delay Re-opening of Fishing, Boating

The discovery of previously unknown cracks and other concrete defects in the Hodges Dam will extend ongoing repair work by several months, forcing San Diego officials to restrict recreational activities on Lake Hodges and keep its levels low for longer.

The newly discovered defects could prompt state regulators to lower the 104-year-old dam’s rating from “poor” to “unsatisfactory” and order all water removed, but city Public Utilities Director Juan Guerreiro said he hopes the ongoing repairs will prevent that.

Western Reservoirs Could Run Dry in 3 Years, Top Official Warns

A top Centennial State official warned Colorado River Basin states that the system’s federal reservoirs could effectively empty in a few short years barring aggressive reductions to water demands.

Colorado River Water Conservation District General Manager Andy Mueller painted a bleak future for the basin’s seven states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — on Friday, during his organization’s annual conference in Grand Junction, Colo., on the river’s future.

Opinion: Biggest Illusion in California is What Water Use and Development Does and Doesn’t Do

Water is a mirage in California. We tend to see what we want to see. In my case, the biggest illusion was Auburn Dam.

If you were a resident of Placer County in the 1960s to 1980s you viewed it as almost as a birthright that the American River be dammed in the canyon below Auburn.

Four Things to Know About Colorado River Water in California

Southern California water districts are grappling with what the fallout could look like if supplies from a critical source — the rapidly drying Colorado River — are cut next year.

The US Bureau of Reclamation warned at a U.S. Senate hearing in mid-June that seven western states had 60 days to voluntarily reach a deal: Cut Colorado River water use by 2 to 4 million acre-feet in 2023 or face federally-mandated cuts instead. It’s a massive amount — at least seven times more than Nevada is entitled to in a year.

The End of Snow Threatens to Upend 76 Million American Lives

The Western US is an empire built on snow. And that snow is vanishing.

Since most of the region gets little rain in the summer, even in good years, its bustling cities and bountiful farms all hinge on fall and winter snow settling in the mountains before slowly melting into rivers and reservoirs.

California’s Drought Is Dire. But There’s a Surprising Bright Spot That May Make This Year Better Than Last

The outlook for California’s drought is grim.

The first five months of the year have been the driest on record. Snowpack in the mountains, at its usual April 1 peak, was the smallest it’s been in seven years. Reservoirs are hovering near historic lows for the season, including Lake Shasta, the state’s largest.

More Reservoirs May Run Dry and the Great Salt Lake Will Continue to Decline, State Officials Warn

More reservoirs across Utah may run dry and the Great Salt Lake will continue to decline, state officials warned lawmakers on Wednesday.

During a briefing before the Utah State Legislature’s Natural Resources Interim Committee, lawmakers were told that 99% of Utah remains in severe or extreme drought. That’s actually an improvement over last year, when a huge chunk of the state was in “exceptional” drought — the worst category.

How Bad is Water Use in California? March is the Worst So Far, Up 19%

Californians emerged from the driest January, February and March on record with the biggest jump in water use since the drought began: a nearly 19% increase in March compared to two years earlier.

Despite the urgent pleas of water officials, California’s water use in March is the highest since 2015, standing in stark contrast to February, when residents and businesses used virtually the same amount of water in cities and towns as two years ago.

As Colorado River Shrinks, Pain of Drought to Spread

Rolf Schmidt-Petersen knows what can happen when a water shortage hits: Reservoirs shrink and tempers flare.

“We had people literally throwing rocks, tomatoes when Elephant Butte went down,” recalled Schmidt-Petersen, director of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission. He was talking about a 2003 deal to release water from a reservoir in southern New Mexico and drop the lake by about 33 feet to assist farmers in the state and neighboring Texas.