U.S. warns California cities to prepare for possible water cuts and fourth year of drought

Federal h2o managers connected Monday warned California cities and concern users receiving h2o from the Central Valley Project to hole for a 4th twelvemonth of drought and perchance "extremely constricted h2o supply" during 2023.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Interior Department that oversees h2o assets management, said drought conditions successful California person persisted contempt aboriginal storms this month, and warned of looming h2o conservation actions.

"If drought conditions widen into 2023, Reclamation volition find it progressively difficult, if not impossible, to conscionable each the competing needs of the Central Valley Project without opening the implementation of further and much terrible h2o conservation actions," the bureau said successful a statement.

The bureau said h2o retention is adjacent historical lows successful the reservoirs it oversees successful the state, which irrigate much than 3 cardinal acres of onshore successful cardinal California and proviso large municipality centers successful the Greater Sacramento and San Francisco Bay areas. The project's h2o provides supplies for astir 2.5 cardinal radical per year.

The Shasta Reservoir, California's largest reservoir located astir 200 miles northbound of the Bay Area, is presently astatine 31% capacity, the bureau said.

California gets astir its h2o during the wintertime months erstwhile storms bring snowfall to the upland ranges. But grounds temperatures and debased precipitation person forced California and different states to code a aboriginal with dwindling h2o supplies.

The megadrought successful the U.S. West has generated the driest 2 decades successful the portion in astatine slightest 1,200 years and and conditions are apt to persist for years. Researchers person estimated that 42% of the drought's severity is attributable to human-caused clime change.

Earlier this year, California h2o officials slashed State Water Project allocations from 15% to 5% of mean for h2o agencies serving astir 27 cardinal radical and 750,000 acres of farmland.

The Reclamation Bureau said it volition denote archetypal h2o proviso allocations for the Central Valley Project successful February.