Tag Archive for: State Water Project

Will Colorado River Shortages Limit Water Use? Arizona Cities Seek ‘Culture Change’ First

/in , , /by /AZ Centralby Brandon Loomis

Arizona’s cities should consider imposing unprecedented restrictions on outdoor water use if the Colorado River’s flow continues to decline as expected this year, the state’s water resources director says.

Scottsdale and Tucson already have declared themselves to be in the first stage of their respective drought plans, and are reducing government water uses. Phoenix plans to take payments from the state in lieu of some of its Colorado River deliveries next year, part of the state’s latest drought mitigation effort.

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California’s New Drought Rules: Will They Be Enough to Halt the ‘Alarming Challenges’ Ahead?

/in , /by /The Guardianby Gabrielle Canon

With little hope of reprieve ahead of the warming summer months, demand for water in parts of drought-stricken California is outpacing supply.

The metropolitan water district of southern California declared a water shortage emergency last week for areas that rely on the State Water Project, a sprawling system of canals, reservoirs, and pipelines that snake across roughly two-thirds the length of the state, affecting about 6 million southern Californians in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

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Can We Do It? Unprecedented Water Cuts Will Require Sacrifices for Southern California

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith and Ian James

In less than a month, residents in large portions of Southern California will be under unprecedented water restrictions due to a worsening drought that has severely limited water supplies.

The biggest change is the requirement from the Metropolitan Water District that local water suppliers in those areas, from Ventura County to northwestern L.A. County to parts of the Inland Empire, limit outdoor watering to once a week.

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Lawn Watering Restricted for Millions in Southern California, but Not Yet in San Diego

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Debbie L. Sklar Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

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.

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L.A.’s Historic Water Shortage Won’t Affect San Diegans

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Los Angeles did something Tuesday it’s never done before: it prohibited about 6 million Angelenos from watering outdoor landscapes except for one day a week.

That’s because climate change-driven drought in California has stretched into its third year, with less rain and snow from the Sierra Nevada mountains feeding the northern rivers of the state. And that means the state’s biggest water lifeline, called the State Water Project, has less water to deliver to the thirsty lands and people who rely on it throughout the rest of California.

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Parts of SoCal Face Full Outdoor Watering Ban by September if Conditions Don’t Improve

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith and Ian James

The Metropolitan Water District said Wednesday that the unprecedented decision to reduce outdoor watering to one day a week for about 6 million Southern Californians could be followed by even stricter actions in September if conditions don’t improve, including a total ban in some areas.

“If we don’t see cutbacks, or conditions do not get better, the Metropolitan board has given me the authority to ban all watering as soon as Sept. 1,” MWD general manager Adel Hagekhalil said Wednesday. “We know what this means to communities, we know what we are requiring here, but we’re facing a challenge. We do not have the supply to meet the normal demands that we have.”

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Unprecedented Water Restrictions Ordered as MWD Declares Water Shortage Emergency

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Southern California officials on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of declaring a water shortage emergency and ordering outdoor usage be restricted to just one day a week for about 6 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties.

The outdoor watering restrictions will take effect June 1 under the decision by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and will apply to areas that depend on water from the drought-ravaged State Water Project.

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Vallecitos Board Declares Level 2 Drought Alert

/in , /by

San Marcos, Calif. – California’s drought, which seemed to be retreating after soaking storms in both October and December, is now all but certain to continue into a third year after the driest January and February in recorded history. The record-breaking dry period and the absence of significant rains in March have required the State Department of Water Resources to reduce anticipated deliveries from the State Water Project to 5 percent of requested supplies. While the state continues to take necessary actions to help extend the state’s existing water supply, state agencies are asking all Californians to do their part now to conserve as much water as possible to make it last.

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‘Urgency Change’ Will Allow More Water to Be Stored in Lake Oroville and Shasta Lake

/in , , , /by /Action News Nowby Kelli Saam

Federal and state water agencies have issued an urgency change to conserve more water in Lake Oroville and Shasta Lake.

District 1 Rep. Doug LaMalfa announced Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and California Department of Water Resources have issued a temporary urgency change petition. It will be in effect now through June 30.

The urgency petition allows the State Water Project and Central Valley Project to release less water through the Delta, in order to conserve stored water at reservoirs including Shasta Lake, Lake Oroville and Folsom Lake.

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Proposed Tulare County Reservoir Could Begin Banking Water as Soon as 2026

/in , , /by /The Sun Gazetteby Reggie Ellis

Last Friday’s report that California’s snowpack is just 38% of normal underscores the importance for Tulare County to not only take the drought more seriously, but to brace for drier winters to become the rule rather than the exception.

Two Tulare County irrigation water agencies aren’t waiting around to see how the state will cope with the current and future drought and are taking steps to secure more water storage in the Kaweah Subbasin. Tulare Irrigation District (TID) and Consolidated Peoples Ditch Company (CPDC) purchased 260 acres in December 2020 near McKay Point, where the Kaweah River forks into the Lower Kaweah and St. John’s rivers near Lemon Cove, to build a reservoir capable of storing 8,000 acre feet of water.

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