California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Feb. 13 intended to protect the state’s water supplies from climate change and the risk of prolonged drought, despite the state’s wettest three-week period on record in late December and early January.
The state has seen an unseasonably dry February and could see a return to warm and dry conditions during the remaining weeks of the typically wet winter months, according to the governor’s Feb. 13 media release on the issue, which notes that heavy rains in the fall of 2021 were followed by the driest start to 2022 in more than a century.
“The latest science indicates that hotter and drier weather conditions could reduce California’s water supply by up to 10 [percent] by the year 2040,” according to the release.
Meanwhile, the Democratic governor has come under fire from bipartisan legislators and California farmers over trillions of gallons of rainwater that recently flowed out to the ocean instead of being stored in reservoirs after three years of drought.
Water flows down the spillway at Nicasio Reservoir after days of rain have brought the reservoir to near capacity in Nicasio, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2023. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Since late December, a series of storms called “atmospheric rivers” dumped an estimated 32 trillion gallons of rainwater on California, according to the FOX Forecast Center. Such was enough to supply the state’s agricultural, industrial, and residential needs for at least a decade had it been stored in reservoirs, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.
At a press conference on Jan. 12, Assembly Republicans said the state hasn’t built a new water reservoir since 1979 and has failed to complete any major water storage projects despite approved funding to do so.
In 2014, the state issued a water bond under Proposition 1, which provided $7.5 billion, including $2.7 billion preauthorized specifically for water storage projects, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Most of California’s dams and reservoirs were built between 1945 and 1968, with the last one—the New Melones Dam and Reservoir, about 100 miles southeast of Sacramento—in 1979.
Although Newsom has advocated for the completion of the Sites Reservoir, a long-delayed proposed project on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, environmental groups have fought against it, stalling construction for at least another three years.
California, claiming it has senior water rights in the Colorado River Basin, is currently embroiled in a dispute with six other states that also rely on those dwindling water resources.
Boats are seen in low water at the Antelope Point Marina in Lake Powell on the Colorado River in Page, Ariz., on Sept. 4, 2022. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
While winter storms have boosted the Sierra-Nevada snowpack and helped to replenish the state’s water reservoirs and depleted aquifers, drought conditions continue to impact farming and communities with vulnerable water supplies, according to Newsom’s executive order.
State Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) said in an email Newsom’s order should allow farmers to store as much water as they can while the rivers are full from the recent storms.
“While I am grateful for the governor’s actions … I would be thrilled if he stopped delaying and built Sites Reservoir so we are prepared for the next dry period,” she told The Epoch Times.
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) said in an email Newsom needs to go further to fast-track the construction of new water storage projects that have been tied up for years in “bureaucratic red tape.”
“It’s about time the Governor stood up to the radical environmentalists trying to kill California agriculture,” he said.
Newsom’s order is intended to increase the state’s capacity to capture storm runoff in wet years by refilling groundwater aquifers, and allow the State Water Board “to reevaluate requirements for reservoir releases and diversion limitations to maximize water supplies.”
Additionally, it directs state agencies to recommend drought response actions by April 30, including the possibility of ending “no longer needed” emergency provisions, “once there is greater clarity about the hydrologic conditions this year.”
The state will draw on $8.6 billion allocated in the last two budget cycles to build water resilience and prepare for impacts of “climate-driven extreme weather,” according to Newsom’s release.
The governor has proposed an additional $202 million for flood protection and $125 million for drought-related actions in the 2023–24 state budget.
Brad Jones
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Brad Jones is an award-winning journalist based in Southern California.
