Another Dry Winter Could Be Bad For California

On Monday October 14, 2013, water managers urged Californians to step up their water conservation efforts. This is a warning that many parts of the state could face water shortages if this winter is dry. Although the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has not declared a statewide drought yet, this is a very real possibility if it stays as dry as it has been. Two dry years in a row have caused water levels in the state's biggest reservoirs to be below normal. Lake Shasta is at 66% of the average for this time of the year and Lake Oroville is at 73%. The fact that the Colorado River basin has had more than a decade of severe drought does not help. The Colorado River basin is a source of about a quarter of urban Southern California's supplies. The last two years on the Colorado have been some of the driest on record in about a century.

Being from California, this is very scary to hear about because I know the kinds of conservation efforts that have already been taking place. For the last few years, we have been urged to really take water conservation seriously. There have been restrictions in place for when lawns can be watered and many people have installed low flow fixtures in their houses. Being from Northern California, I know that we worry every winter when Tahoe gets less and less snow because we rely on the snow melt from Tahoe as a water source as well. This is a scary issue and not one that you usually hear about somewhere like Washington where water is always present. The MWD says that they have sufficient supplies in regional storage to avoid mandatory cutbacks for another year, but after that we're kind of screwed.  Hopefully this winter is not dry in California and a drought will not have to be declared.

You can read more about the issue and the water conservation efforts that are already being taken by those who live in California here:
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-water-conserve-20131014,0,6674448.story