Millions of residents of southern California are now limited to one day a week of outdoor irrigation, just like a huge chunk of northern Utah.
The restrictions in play are the result of the worst drought in the western United States in 12 centuries, the severity of which was reported in a scientific journal earlier this year.
This summer, some will be taking shorter showers and lawns will turn yellow as Southern Californians try to conserve water during the drought.
While it mostly affects the Los Angeles area, all Californians are being asked to save water.
Last month — when the state water board approved rules that went into effect on Wednesday — Governor Gavin Newsom said in part, “These conservation measures are increasingly important as we enter the summer months. I’m asking all Californians to step up because every single drop counts.”
Millions of Angelenos awoke Wednesday to a new, more arid future as unprecedented water restrictions went into effect across Southern California.
For some, the sweeping limitations on outdoor watering felt like déjà vu from the last time the state was in a significant drought, when lawns turned brown and short showers became the norm. For others, the rules were a frustrating reminder of how little has changed.
So it begins.
More than 6 million water users (that is, humans) across Southern California woke up on Wednesday to find themselves under new drought restrictions.
If you’ve been following the numbers, none of this should be surprising
A long-dead proposal to flood a bucolic valley north of Sacramento and create a massive reservoir for thirsty Southern California is finding new life — and opposition — amid the effects of climate change and worsening drought.
First conceived in the 1950s, the Sites Reservoir project was abandoned in the 1980s — the twilight years of America’s big Western dam-building projects.
Millions of Southern Californians will wake up to the region’s most severe water restrictions ever on June 1, with local water agencies under orders to slash the use of supplies from the State Water Project by 35%.
Many water experts say that the cuts are achievable and that reducing outdoor watering to one day a week can help yield immediate savings. At the same time, researchers and water policy experts say, the region needs to adapt to the severe drought because climate change, extreme heat and dwindling snowpack will only serve to exacerbate the issues in years to come
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.
When the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California this week unveiled its strictest-ever water restrictions for about 6 million residents, it did so with an urgent goal in mind: a 35% reduction in water consumption, equating to an allocation of about 80 gallons per person per day.
Officials said that’s the number needed to conserve critical supplies for health and safety amid worsening drought — and to prevent a full outdoor watering ban as soon as September. Currently, the average potable water use across the MWD’s service area — including residential, commercial and industrial water use — amounts to 125 gallons per person per day.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography reported that dense phytoplankton blooms — popularly known as “red tides” — have become more visible throughout Southern California this week. Blooms have been spotted in La Jolla, Newport Beach, and Santa Barbara. Researchers with the cooperative Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System are monitoring the blooms. In La Jolla, Scripps said the species Lingulodinium polyedravery is turning water dark red and producing bioluminescence at night. In Newport Beach, the Akashiwo sanguinea species is responsible for orange-red water that can be harmful to birds, fish, and shellfish.
One day after approving a restriction that will limit outdoor watering to once a week for millions of Southern California residents and businesses, leaders of the region’s largest water wholesaler said Wednesday they needed to take unprecedented steps to respond to the record drought.
“The reality is, this drought has left us without the water supply we need to meet normal demands in these areas,” Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said in a statement.
