San Diego County residents can expect more calls for water conservation, even as local water officials insist the region has enough.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to cut back water use across the board around the state.
“California is facing a drought crisis and every local water agency and Californian needs to step up on conservation efforts,” said Newsom in a statement this week.
New drought regulations will go into effect next month as California tries to conserve water before the hot summer months.
California State Water Resources Control Board adopted a new regulation on Tuesday, to ensure a more aggressive approach to save water. Even though San Diego County is not facing a water shortage, residents will still have to comply with the state’s regulations.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted Tuesday to ban watering of non-functional turf at commercial, industrial and institutional properties, the latest in a series of steps to conserve water amid a historic drought.
The ban — which does not include turf at residences or turf used for recreation or community purposes — will be effective once approved by the Office of Administrative Law, which typically takes about 10 days, according to the board. Violations of the ban would be punishable by a fine of up to $500.
Despite being surrounded by water, Bay Area residents are routinely told during dry years to take shorter showers, let lawns brown and slow the rush of water from their taps.
But as climate change prolongs drought and challenges local water supply, regional water managers are warning that none of those actions will be enough. Many say the time has come to invest in technically feasible, though politically and environmentally complicated alternatives like purifying wastewater and sucking salt out of seawater to bolster stores.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened Monday to impose mandatory water restrictions if residents don’t use less on their own as a drought drags on and the hotter summer months approach.
Newsom raised that possibility in a meeting with representatives from major water agencies, including those that supply Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Democratic governor has avoided issuing sweeping, mandatory cuts in water use and instead favored giving local water agencies power to set rules for water use in the cities and towns they supply.
Gov. Gavin Newsom met with leaders of the state’s largest urban water suppliers Monday and implored them to step up efforts to get people to reduce water use as California’s drought continues to worsen. He warned that if conservation efforts don’t improve this summer, the state could be forced to impose mandatory water restrictions throughout the state.
Leaders from California’s largest urban water suppliers and associations met with Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday to discuss aggressive actions to combat drought.
Per Newsom’s direction, the state’s Water Resources Control Board may vote on a statewide ban on watering “nonfunctional turf” in a meeting Tuesday.
Mandatory water restrictions soon may be in the future for all of California. The governor threatened the mandates if we don’t use less water on our own.
“This year, 2022, it was historically dry,” says Efren Lopez with The San Diego County Water Authority. “It was hot so you see that uptick in water use.”
Outdoor watering restrictions area set to take effect in Los Angeles at the end of the month, and the prospect of an improvement in drought conditions appears dim.
Just how bad is the drought? According to state figures, the first three months of the year were the driest in the state’s recorded history. California is currently in the third year of a drought.
The Tucson City Council voted unanimously to give back about a third of its Central Arizona Project water allocation to help an ailing Lake Mead.
The lake, hit hard by a prolonged drought, is at 31% capacity and dropping. It provides water for 20 million people in Arizona, California and Nevada as well as large swaths of farmland.
“I feel that the city of Tucson is in a position where we can add water back to the lake, specifically Lake Mead,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero before the vote.
