Water rationing begins as drought hits California
By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff Jan. 22, 2014
LOS ANGELES — Last week, officials of the small town of Willits, Calif., looked at their two local reservoirs. After a bit of calculating, they realized they only had enough water to last 100 days. It was time to adopt the toughest water use rules they could.
The 5,000 inhabitants of this former lumber town in Mendocino County are now on a water diet. A family of four gets a ration of no more than 150 gallons a day. Outdoor watering, car washing and hosing down pavement are banned. Businesses have been ordered to cut water use 35 percent.
“The more we looked at the data, the more we realized the situation is bleak,” Willits City Manager Adrienne Moore said.
California was already parched from last year's dry weather. Now as the winter progresses, concern is growing. It appears California may be headed for a replay of the big drought of the late 1980s through the early 1990s. Or, even worse, the drought of 1977.
Too Much Sun
The snow and rain could still come. Only about half of the rainy season is over. But if nonstop sunny weather continues to curse the state, the pain of water shortages will spread.
“A lot of the smaller systems are going to be really hurting," said Maury Roos, the state's chief water supply expert. "They really don’t have a lot of carry-over” of supplies from one year to the next.
Water managers in Southern California, on the other hand, are doing all right. They say they have enough reserves to get the state’s most heavily populated region through the year without enforcing rations.
The huge Imperial Irrigation District is also in good shape. It is one of the country's major sources of winter lettuce and vegetables. The district will get its regular Colorado River irrigation deliveries this year. And many growers on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers will also do relatively well: They won’t suffer more than a 25 percent cut.
The story will be different for many San Joaquin Valley growers, particularly on the valley’s south and west sides. And also for ranchers and communities that depend on local surface supplies.
“I shudder to think if rain doesn’t come,” said Carre Brown, a supervisor in Mendocino County. “All our reservoirs are very, very low.”
Storage Dropping In Reservoirs
Last year was California’s driest year in 119 years of records. But from the point of view of water supply, the state is just now tipping into drought.
On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown officially declared that California is in a drought emergency. He called it an "unprecedented," or never-before-seen, situation.Storage in most major reservoirs is well below average for the time of year. And it's dropping when it should be rising.There’s always a chance the weather could change, of course.
In early 2009, the state warned of dire drought. Then a series of February storms arrived. And back in 1991 a “Miracle March” brought three times the month’s normal rainfall.
Some of the grimmest measurements this year are from Folsom Lake on the American River northeast of Sacramento. The reservoir is only 18 percent full, a near record low. This has gotten the attention of places not known for their thrifty water ways.
"Less Water To Rely On"
“Folsom Lake — it’s pretty obvious there’s a problem,” said water manager Shauna Lorance. Her system delivers Folsom water to the suburbs ringing Sacramento. The big landscaped lots and irrigated horse pastures in those areas drive the district’s per-person water use to about 369 gallons a day. That is three times the rate in Los Angeles.
The district has asked customers to stop all outdoor watering. If it remains dry, Lorance said, that request probably would turn into an order.
Sacramento itself draws some supplies from the American River. On Tuesday, the City Council approved making people stick to a ration.
“We’re asking all water users to reduce their usage by 20 percent,” City Manager John Shirey said. “We think that’s entirely attainable.”
California’s capital city has traditionally been something of a water hog. It is situated on two rivers and has scorching summers.
Still, water use has dropped in recent years. And, Shirey said, rainless seasons like this will further drive home the need to conserve — all the time.
“With climate change occurring we have to assume that we could see long-term shortages of water in California, “ he said. “We just have to change, I think, the mindset here and everywhere — we’re going to have less water to rely on.”