Water agencies in California face cuts as drought continues.

• Officials in California have announced that they will reduce the allocation of water from the State Water Project for urban consumers and farmers by 50% due to the ongoing drought in the state.
• This year, state reservoirs will provide less water to approximately 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland than they requested.
• In the past 20 years, the U.S. West has experienced its driest period in at least 1,200 years due to the megadrought.

Officials in California have announced that they will reduce State Water Project allocations for certain urban water consumers and farmers by 10% due to the state's ongoing drought.

State reservoirs will provide less water to approximately 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland this year due to declining reservoir levels and reduced snowpack, affecting water agencies.

Officials initially allocated 15% in January, hoping for rain in December to ease drought conditions. However, the state is now facing its driest period on record from January to March in over a century.

Real-time climate change whiplash is occurring with extreme swings between wet and dry conditions, as stated by Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth. As a result, we must adjust quickly based on the data and the science.

Not all agencies in California rely on water supplies from the State Water Project, which collects water from rivers in Northern California and delivers it to 29 urban and agricultural water suppliers. Approximately 70% of this water is used for urban areas and industry in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, while 30% is used for agriculture in the Central Valley.

The drought in the U.S. West has been the driest in the region in at least 1,200 years, and researchers estimate that 42% of its severity is due to human-caused climate change.

During winter, California receives most of its water from storms that bring snow to the mountains. The state's reservoirs currently have about 70% of their average water storage. Officials are taking measures to conserve as much water as possible in Lake Oroville, the largest reservoir in the State Water Project.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has not mandated water cutbacks but instead encouraged residents to reduce their water consumption by 15% during dry periods. Officials advised residents to limit outdoor water use, use recycled water for outdoor projects, take shorter showers, and only run the dishwasher and washing machine when full.

Despite efforts to conserve water, the state's urban water use increased by 2.6% in January 2021 compared to the same month in 2020, according to data from the State Water Resources Control Board.

Officials ordered water cuts for the Colorado River Basin last year, affecting over 40 million people in the West, as water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell reached their lowest levels on record.

Officials in California stated that they will continue to fulfill any remaining critical health and safety requirements for all water agencies that receive State Water Project supplies, and are likely to make a final allocation for the water year in May or June.