Water Authority Applauds Governor’s Targeted Approach to Drought

Board Chair responds to Gov. Newsom’s executive action today

April 21, 2021 – “We applaud Governor Newsom for taking a targeted, flexible, and iterative
approach to drought management that provides support for individual regions that are suffering
from drought while also recognizing regions like San Diego County that have sufficient water
supplies due to three decades of investments in supply reliability. The governor’s Water Portfolio
Strategy aligns with our long-term investments in a diversified water portfolio, desalinated
seawater, conserved water from Imperial County, local water-use efficiency measures, and
increased water storage. Because of those actions and others, our residents have enough water for
2021 and future dry years. We also applaud the efforts of our ratepayers, who have cut per capita
water use by nearly half since 1990.

“In addition, the innovative and resilient supply portfolio created by the Water Authority and its
24 member agencies puts our region in a unique position to provide solutions that can help
California weather this drought and future droughts – for instance, by storing water in Lake
Mead. We look forward to working with the governor and his staff to collaborate on projects and
programs where we can use our assets and experience to help areas that are hit hard by drought
in the face of a changing climate.

“Finally, we are proud to be a founding member of the coalition of water agencies mentioned by
the governor that support the important scientific research being done on climate change by our
own Scripps Institution of Oceanography.”

— Gary Croucher, Board Chair, San Diego County Water Authority