'We have to do something:' State water officials plan to crack down as California drought persists
California state water officials are urging the public to reconsider their water-usage habits, as the lingering drought persists through it's third year.
The 2022 year began with the driest months of January and February in state history, coming fresh off of the second-driest year in California history in 2021.
Anselmo Collins, Senior Assistant General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
With no end in sight, drastic measures have already been made in an attempt to increase water conservation statewide.
Anselmo Collins, Senior Assistant General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power offered a statement Friday afternoon, which noted that officials "want to stress to our residential and commercial customers the dire situation we are now facing in the third dry year and serious drought. We urge everyone to take a closer look at how they are using water inside and outside their home and take the necessary steps to cut down on usage. We are closely monitoring supply conditions and may call for additional measures to step up conservation, should that become necessary."
One district that will face immediate restrictions is the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, which provides water throughout Los Angeles County. The California Department of Water Resources announced that allocations from the State Water Project will be reduced to just 5% from their normal 15%. The 5% is still higher than the initial 0% that was promised by the department, meaning water resources would have only been provided to cover public health and safety.
Those requested allocations come directly from the state aqueduct, which carries water from Northern California rivers and sends them South, as detailed by CalMatters.com.
Matthew Dickens, who works as the Sustainability Manager for Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, spoke with CBS reporters Friday, where he addressed the issue head on and offered some advice for local residents looking to help make a difference.
"We may have to ask customers to reduce their irrigation use to three days per week," he said, outlining a plan for homeowners who frequently water their yards. "The way it would work is customers would be required to reduce their irrigation to no more than 3 days per week, no more than 2 five-minute run cycles."
Using high-efficiency sprinkler systems or installing turf grass could substantially reduce water-usage levels, especially since "many sprinklers apply water at a rate that's much faster than the soil can absorb," leading to high levels of runoff.
In fact, most of the water waste in Southern California is irrigation water that runs down gutters and sidewalks after sprinklers are used.
He continued to note how Santa Clarita specifically has only seen a 2% increase in water conservation since Governor Gavin Newsom pled with residents to reduce their own water usage by 15%. This low percentage supposedly falls in line with many other regions throughout the state, despite several cities instituting restrictions and fees to aid in conservation.
Dickens also offered some advice on utilizing sprinkler systems without producing too much wasted water, noting that reducing the output on sprinklers could save anywhere "between 70 to 200 gallons per day of watering."
"In July of last year, I turned my timers down by 20% and I used the season percent adjust function on the timer. My savings is down for my family and my home 17%," he continued.
Other residents in the area have already started to cut back on their water usage, watering earlier in the morning and even adjusting their home landscaping to adapt.
"We put in this rock scape about three years ago, which helps with the watering," said Leigh Hart. "I have some drought resistant plants."
Her neighbor, Troy Eddow, has also started to limit how often he waters his lawn, which he said hasn't suffered too much yet.
"We definitely don't want restrictions where we gotta let our grass die and then start all over again. So yeah, we have to do something," he said.
In a statement Friday, state officials disclosed that the lack of conservation, piled onto the extremely low levels of precipitation have led to these measures. The statement from Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of
the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California reads in part:
"Unfortunately, so far the level of conservation we're seeing from the public is not matching the severity of these conditions. We all need to take this drought more seriously and significantly step up our water-saving efforts to help preserve our dropping storage levels and ensure we have the water we need into the summer and fall. ... On average, 30% of the water we use in Southern California comes from the State Water Project. But through three years of low allocations, we're getting a fraction of what we used to receive -- lower deliveries than any time in history."
