Storms allow water restrictions to ease for Californians

By RIA ROEBUCK JOSEPH THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR

(The Center Square) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom rescinded several drought measures in state of emergency orders.

Water supplies requested from 29 public water agencies serving 27 million Californians will now increase back to 75%, up from 35%, all 58 counties will remain in a state of emergency to allow for a drought response and the continuance of recovery efforts.

Since July 8, 2021 when the governor asked Californianas to voluntarily reduce the amount of water they use by 15%, residents have conserved the equivalent of the annual usage of 1.2 million households, just 6% of the target. The conservation target of 15% ends today although conservation is still the goal for water usage.

Level 2 drought contingency plans for local water agencies were also lifted.

Water conservation restrictions for specific watersheds, groundwater supply and the watering of grass on commercial properties remain in effect.

“As we welcome this relief from the drought, we must remain focused on continuing our all-of-the-above approach to future-proofing California’s water supply,” Gov. Newsom said. Gov. Newsom called the erratic weather that created drought and record-breaking rainfall since then a “weather whiplash” created by climate change. California has a long history of extreme dry and wet spells throughout its centuries with the worst flood on record in 1862 powered by atmospheric rivers, of the sort recently experienced. This was followed by three years of intense drought.

Jonathan Lloyd, managing editor of digital news for NBC 4 in Los Angeles has published a record that begins in 1862, and shows floods occurring again in 1907, 1909, 1938, 1939, 1955, 1969, 1977, 1982-83, 1995,1997, 2017, and 2018. The rest are of recent recollection. There’s a record of drought published by California Climate and Agricultural Network, though incomplete, seems to fit in gaps between flood years in similar “whiplash” fashion.

“The weather whiplash we’ve experienced in the past few months makes it crystal clear that Californians and our water system have to adapt to increasingly extreme swings between drought and flood,” Gov. Newsom reminded.

Over $8.6 billion were allocated in the last two budget cycles to address water challenges through improved infrastructure and storage expansion, with an additional $202 million for flood protection and $125 million for droughtrelated actions anticipated in the 2023-2024 state budget.

“Harnessing water captured and stored from recent storms,” the governor’s release read, meant that California could increase the allocation of “expected State Water Project deliveries to local agencies.”

“We’re all in this together, and this state has taken extraordinary actions to get us to this point,” Gov. Newsom said.