Governor Jerry Brown last year ordered a 25 percent cut in water use as the state suffered through the fourth year of an unprecedented drought. “I save water for myself, for all of us, and for the environment”.
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Fiona Sanchez, director of water resources for Irvine Ranch Water District, said she is confident that districts statewide will carefully study their supply and demand.
Some districts might set strict conservation goals for residents and businesses, while others could determine it is time to lift conservation mandates altogether.
But storms powered by the El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon dumped considerable precipitation in Northern California and much of the Sierra Nevada, swelling reservoirs, building crucial snowpack in the mountains and prompting consumers to complain that cutbacks were unnecessary.
Southern California, however, remains deep in drought.
Landscaper Greg Gritters says local water officials are best suited to manage their supplies.
“Either way they’re unhappy”, Gritters said. People are getting to this point where they’re wondering, can I start taking longer showers?
FILE – In this June 9, 2015 file photo, California Gov.
And because standards would be assessed at the local level, the new regulations would mean different levels of conservation for different areas of the state. At the very least, given the water-supply deficit, mandatory conservation measures should have continued until our state’s supply and demand are brought back into balance. The Water Board will return to the question of state restriction next January to assess how local restrictions are working and will consider putting its own restrictions back in place if necessary. Although we saw near average precipitation this winter, and are in a moderately better position than we were last year, almost 72% percent of the state remains in severe to exceptional drought conditions and snowpack is only a third of average for this time of year.
While an El Niño rainy season skewed North and left California drier than anticipated, the State Water Resources Control Board met, as expected, to revisit our mandatory 25 percent water use reduction restrictions.
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State officials noted that conservation efforts should still continue, saying this past winter could be a fluke.
