State drought draws attention of state officials
California’s drought conditions have legislators concerned and
earlier this week Governor Schwarzenegger toured the San Luis
Reservoir in Merced County to illustrate the mounting water
crisis.
State drought draws attention of state officials
California’s drought conditions have legislators concerned and earlier this week Governor Schwarzenegger toured the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County to illustrate the mounting water crisis.
As a result of California’s last drought between 1987 and 1992, farmers suffered a $800 million economic loss and Californians paid $500 million more for energy as utilities were forced to substitute hydroelectric power with other, more expensive forms of energy, according to press officials from Governor Schwarzenegger’s office. Among the numerous industries that were impacted, the landscape and gardening industry lost $460 million and cut 5,600 jobs, according to a recent press release.
San Benito County has not been exempted from this year’s drought. In fact, according to John Gregg, district manager and engineer with the San Benito County Water District, San Benito County is basically rationing water to all blue-value customers. Customers are only getting about 85 percent of the water they’re entitled to because of rationing.
Schwarzenegger will call on the Legislature to pass a comprehensive water plan, according to press officials for the governor’s office.
Currently San Luis is filled to just 25 percent of capacity resulting from California’s latest drought conditions and a nine day shut down of the state water project pumps in the Delta, according to a press release issued by the governor’s office.
“San Luis being drawn down merely gives us a picture of how tenuous the water supply at San Justo is,” Gregg said.
The San Justo reservoir serves a different function, Gregg explained. San Justo has had issues with respect to seepage, so they have had an operating limit in place for some time. The self-imposed limit is about 10,000 acre-feet and the operational limit they have been maintaining is about 7,000 acre-feet.
This summer drought conditions are causing water districts to call for people to voluntarily cut their usage by 10 percent, according to the release. Two districts in Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties have implemented mandatory rationing.
Last month, the governor proclaimed a state of emergency in Kings County due to the drought.
The San Luis Reservoir water system supplies 25 million Californians with safe, reliable drinking water that moves through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Schwarzenegger said during the press event. The system irrigates hundreds of thousands of acres of Central Valley farmland that is a vital part of California’s $32 billion agriculture industry, Schwarzenegger said.
He was also concerned that during the last 20 years no new reservoirs have been connected to the statewide system.
The governor introduced a $5.9 billion comprehensive water plan earlier this year, according to the release. This is an extension of his Strategic Growth Plan from last year. Press officials explained it is the governor’s intention to invest $4.5 billion to develop additional surface and groundwater storage to protect communities against flooding and capture water from storms and snowmelt run-off to supply cities, farmers and businesses with water during drought conditions.
The plan also includes $1 billion toward restoration of the Delta, including development of a new conveyance system, $250 million to support restoration projects on the Klamath, San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers and the Salton Sea project and $200 million for grants to California communities to help conserve water for about 400,000 families, according to the release.
Two consecutive years of the current drought conditions would severely impact the economy and negatively affect the quality of life for many Californians, according to the release.
