Parts of North and East Bay Now Under 'Exceptional Drought' Conditions
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The latest U.S. drought data released Thursday morning put portions of the North and East Bay into exceptional drought conditions, according to officials.
The area of exceptional drought -- the most extreme designation used by the U.S. Drought Monitor -- includes portions of Napa, Sonoma, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties.
The Bay Area office of the National Weather Service posted about the new information via Twitter Thursday morning, noting that the Drought Monitor had introduced D4-Exceptional Drought conditions to those regions.
"D4 indicates exceptional and widespread crop/pasture losses and shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells," the post said.
The Bay Area National Weather Service website said numerous counties are beginning to see significant impacts after receiving less than 50% of average precipitation in the current water year.
"Ranchers are seeing water supplies dry up and dryland pasture growth stunted resulting in animal stress, mortality, decreased stock weight and having to sell off livestock," the latest update on the website read. "Farmers are preparing to haul water to their livestock."
The Bay Area National Weather Service website also noted that the remaining portions of Napa, Sonoma, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties as well as all of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz counties and
the northern portions of Monterey and San Benito counties were still
in D3-Extreme Drought.
The central and southern portions of Monterey and San Benito Counties remain unchanged in D2-Severe Drought.
Earlier in May, officials placed the entire Bay Area -- as well as much of California -- at the D3 extreme drought level.
Bay Area officials have been making announcements regarding conservation and restrictions due to extreme drought. On Wednesday, the Santa Rosa City Council asked residents to voluntarily reduce their water consumption by 20 percent.
On Tuesday, the Marin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to declare a local drought emergency amid what the board's president called the worst drought conditions in more than 140 years.
Last week, South Bay water officials voted unanimously to greenlight a series of rate hikes to pay for water projects in the region and begin preliminary studies on the contentious Pacheco Dam Project.
