“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought after two years of below-average rainfall, low snow-melt runoff and a court-ordered restriction in water transfers.
Schwarzenegger warned that residents and water managers must immediately cut their water use or face the possibility of rationing next year if there is another dry winter.
Schwarzenegger directed the state Department of Water Resources to help speed water transfers to areas with the worst shortages, to help local water districts with conservation efforts and to assist farmers suffering losses from the drought.
California depends on winter snow accumulating in the Sierra Nevada for much of its summer water supply. But March, April and May were the driest winter months on record, forcing water use cutbacks by farmers and urban residents alike.
The Western Regional Climate Center in Reno, Nevada, reported that precipitation in California during that period was 1.2 inches, or 22 percent of the average for the 114 years since record-keeping began. Snow measurements last month found that the Sierra Nevada held just 69 percent of an average winter. Runoff into California rivers was at 55 percent of a normal year. The state’s major reservoirs are at 50 percent to 63 percent of their capacity at a time when they ideally would be full.
‘Worst-hit so far is the San Joaquin Valley, which could soon merit an emergency declaration because of drop damage,’ said Water Resources Director Lester Snow.
‘The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said this week it would cut water supplied to Central Valley farms to 40 percent of the amount growers contract for with the federal government. Water deliveries from state reservoirs could drop to 35 percent,’ Snow said. That could mean hundreds of acres of crops won’t be planted this year, according to the giant Westlands Water District, which supplies growers who produce about $1 billion worth of crops annually.
‘The state is exploring ways to send scarce water to farmers for the growing season now while cutting deliveries later,’ Snow said.”