State officials recently eased the reins on local water agencies when it comes to the drought mandate.
While the State Water Resources Control Board has decided to allow agencies like the Coachella Valley Water District – the desert’s largest – to decide for themselves how to conserve, it is imperative that regulators maintain a watchful eye as dry times continue.
New drought rules adopted last week by the state water board will allow the state’s 411 urban water suppliers to “self-certify” their available supplies and decide themselves what level of conservation to pursue. The new regulations, which will run through January, require suppliers to assess supplies based on a scenario of three additional dry years, and offer specifics on how they determine conservation goals.
“We have a learning lab over the next seven months to see what people do,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Board. “Then we have the ability to come back if it doesn’t work.”
Make sure that happens, Chairwoman Marcus.
The past winter’s El Niño gave Golden State residents a bit of a respite after four long years of severe drought. The Sierra snow pack was left plump by winter storms and some state reservoirs are now full, with others at high levels they haven’t seen in years.
Despite this we’re still not in the clear.
According to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor map, nearly 95 percent of the state – with more than 35 million residents – is areas under stress ranging “abnormally dry” to “exceptional drought.”
Though the welcome rain and snow from El Niño helped nudge officials toward easing the drought mandate, signs are it could be fleeting. Electronic monitors in the Sierra earlier this month put the melting snowpack at about 33 percent of the historical average for this time of year. Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center reports a 70 percent chance of a fall arrival of La Niña.
El Niño’s “flipside” cousin typically brings cooler water temperatures in the Pacific, resulting in drier conditions in the Southwest, including California.
Gov. Jerry Brown already made permanent basic, common sense practices that should help continue a culture shift toward conscious, intelligent water use. These steps include bans on hosing down walkways, using fountains that do not recirculate water and watering lawns to the point excess runs off.
Such individual actions and their effects should continue to change how people view water. Signs of the public’s commitment when called upon were clear, with the state overall just missing the goal of a 25 percent reduction in water use over the months-long mandate period.
Moving forward it is imperative that the state water board remain prepared to act to ensure the progress we’ve seen is not squandered by a return to wasteful ways.