SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California water agencies that serve 27 million people will get just 5% of what they requested from the state to start 2023, water officials announced Thursday.
The news of limited water comes as California concludes its driest three-year stretch on record and as water managers brace for a fourth year with below-average precipitation. But if the winter is wetter than expected, the state could boost how much supply it plans to give out — as it did last year when allocations started at 0% and ended the winter at 5%.
Absent an end to the drought, water-saving measures are poised to continue, including calls for people to rip up decorative grass, limit outdoor watering, take shorter showers and run dishwashers only when full. Much of California is in extreme or exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
A storm currently bringing snow and rain to the northern end of the state has been welcome news, but people shouldn’t get too optimistic, warned Michael Anderson, the state climatologist. Last year two major storms in October and December were followed by months of bone-dry weather.
Much of California’s water supply comes from snow that falls in the mountains during the winter and enters the watershed as it melts through spring. Some of it is stored in reservoirs for later use, while some is sent south through massive pumping systems.
The system is known as the State Water Project, and it provides water to two-thirds of the state’s people and 1,172 square miles (3,035 square kilometers) of farmland. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which services Los Angeles and much of Southern California, relies on the state for about one-third of its water supply.
Southern California’s supply is further threatened by the ongoing crisis afflicting the Colorado River, another major source for the heavily populated region. The district is working on a massive water recycling plant to eventually supplement supply.
“Metropolitan is doing everything we can to alleviate the immediate crisis and make investments to provide more tools than emergency conservation alone,” Adel Hagekhalil, the district’s general manager, said in a statement. “But now we need the public’s help. We can get through this by working together.”
