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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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Water District Plans Increase of Recycled Wastewater

/in , , /by /The Malibu Timesby Jimy Tallal

Department of Water Resources (DWR) officials announced they were cutting State Water Project allocations from 15 percent of what had been requested by water districts to 5 percent, due to extremely dry conditions. The State Water Project is just one of Malibu’s water suppliers — other sources include groundwater and the Colorado River.

“We’re experiencing climate change whiplash in real time, with extreme swings between wet and dry conditions. That means adjusting quickly based on the data and the science,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth in a prepared statement.

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PWD OK’s Entry Into Water Transfer Program

/in , /by /Antelope Valley Pressby Allison Gatlin

The Palmdale Water District Board of Directors approved the District’s entry into a program to transfer water for State Water Contractors during dry years, such as this one.

The program allows State Water Contractors, such as Palmdale Water District, to purchase water allocated to fallow rice farms in Northern California.

District officials estimate it possibly will need to purchase an additional 1,000 acre-feet of water to meet its supply needs this year, according to the staff report.

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State Deepens Water Supply Cuts as Drought Continues

/in , , /by /AgAlertby Christine Souza

The California Department of Water Resources is cutting its water allocation for the State Water Project to 5%—down from its earlier promised allotment of 15%.

The agency cited dropping reservoir levels and reduced snowpack amid California’s continuing drought.

The March 18 announcement marked another setback for farmers and others who rely on state surface-water supplies.

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Water Authority Confident in Local Water Supply, But Still Urges Conservation Amid Drought

/in , , /by /Times of San Diego by City News Service Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

California’s Department of Water Resources Friday announced that due to the ongoing statewide drought, it must reduce the State Water Project allocation to 5% of requested supplies for 2022, but San Diego County Water Authority officials said they remain confident in the region’s supply.

DWR previously set the allocation at 15% but a historically dry January and February, with no significant storms forecast for March, required a reduction in the allocation to conserve available water supply, a statement from the state agency read.

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“Today’s announcement about reduced allocations from the State Water Project brings into focus the increasing challenges created by the megadrought,” said Sandra L. Kerl, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority. “This is an emergency felt throughout the state and we strongly support continued conservation.”

“Reduced water deliveries from the State Water Project highlight how the San Diego region’s conservation ethic combined with investments in drought-resilient supplies are paying off,” Kerl said. “The region uses very little water from the Bay-Delta, and even with reduced allocations, the Water Authority has reliable water supplies for 2022 and beyond.”

In addition to the 5% allocation, DWR will also provide any unmet critical health and safety needs of the 29 water agencies that contract to receive State Water Project supplies.

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California Drought Conditions Predicted to Worsen in Coming Months, Federal Forecasters Say

/in , , /by /The Mercury Newsby Paul Rogers

Serious drought conditions across California and the West are expected to worsen this spring into early summer, with hotter-than-normal temperatures, reduced chances of rain and increased fire risk likely, federal forecasters said Thursday.

The next three months through the end of June show little to no drought relief, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency of the National Weather Service.

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