SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California water officials have implemented more hefty water cuts to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta watershed, affecting thousands of users from Fresno to parts of Northern California, as the state continues in its third year of drought.
The restrictions, ordered by the State Water Resources Control Board, began on June 8 and affect more than 400 public water systems and 4,252 water rights. The measures restrict cities, agricultural workers, and growers from pumping water from the rivers and streams in the delta.
Farmers, already affected by several other conservation efforts imposed by the state, will have to find other sources of water.
“Without that surface supply to rely upon during California’s historically normal periods of back-to-back dry years, replacement groundwater becomes the only alternative for cities and farmers to survive,” Kristi Diener, founder of the California Water for Food and People Movement, a grassroots group made up of agricultural workers advocating for water reforms, said in a statement.
“They have the power to shut off a farmer’s access to groundwater completely.”
“The state is well on its way to controlling America’s most valuable asset in the San Joaquin Valley, which is the land that feeds the USA and prevents foreign dependence on food,” Diener’s statement reads. “California grows more than 400 food and fiber products, many of which can only be grown here. It provides 50 [percent] of our nation’s fruits, nuts, and vegetables which exist in every aisle of every grocery store.”
The California State Water Resources Control Board also approved an agreement that will allow water holders to utilize the upper Russian River watershed “to voluntarily reduce water use and share their available water,” according to a statement.
Sweeping conservation methods went into effect for more than 6 million Southern Californians at the beginning of the month, enacted by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, restricting outdoor water use to once per week.
The mandatory orders come amid the state’s drought conditions, which have strained the system, according to officials. The state’s current water supply is lower than 50 percent, as January, February, and March saw the driest three months in the state’s history in terms of rainfall and snowfall.
But not all are on board with mandatory conservation efforts, especially as skepticism has been raised over how the state has handled its water supply. Some say the state’s poor resource management has made conditions worse for consumers.
“Mandatory conservation will also reduce water sales to water agencies and would require increasing water rates to recover the same amount of revenue needed to operate a water agency,” Steve Sheldon, president of the Orange County Water District, told The Epoch Times in a previous interview.
Additional water curtailments may be on the way as well.
In March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom directed the state water board to implement emergency regulations for urban water usage. The regulations, which are set to take effect on or about June 16, will ban most watering of decorative grass around industrial, commercial, and institutional buildings, and halt the overwatering of trees.
