Four words sum up Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to ease the impact of the drought: too little, too late.
California needs to take far more aggressive action to ensure a reliable source of water for 2022 and beyond. Newsom’s administration is targeting unreasonable waste by urban users, who consume 20% of the state’s water. It’s time for him also to get aggressive with Big Ag, which sucks up the other 80%.
Hosing off the driveway. Watering lawns within 48 hours of a rainstorm. Washing a car without a shut-off nozzle.
Any of those wasteful practices could soon be illegal in drought-stricken California, with fines of up to $500 for violators.
Seven months after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for most counties in California, his administration is moving forward with something water conservation experts said should have happened long ago — crafting statewide rules to ban the egregious wasting of water.
Bakersfield’s two largest water providers will soon implement new restrictions to head off the potentially dire impacts of an extended drought.
On Dec. 14, the city of Bakersfield and California Water Service plan to limit the days customers can use water for outdoor landscaping. Other restrictions, like no longer automatically serving drinking water at restaurants, will also go into effect as officials attempt to meet or exceed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to reduce water usage by 15 percent.
The city and county of San Diego are doing something the United States and most of the world’s most powerful nations have not: committing to net zero carbon emissions by 2035. That’s the same year Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on gas-powered automobiles sales in California fully kicks in. The governor also has taken action to prohibit new permits for fracking and greatly restricting where new oil and gas drilling can take place. Those are things the U.S. and many big countries have not done, either.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended the drought emergency statewide and called on all Californians to redouble their efforts to conserve water. His call to action is critical even with the storms that recently soaked California, because we know that a lot more rain and snow will be needed to lift the state out of the drought.
The Governor’s approach to statewide conservation is laudable, as well, because it continues to empower water managers with matching local water supply conditions with conservation, rather than relying on statewide mandates. While conservation is a critical tool for saving water during a drought, it is only one of many actions that must be taken to address drought. Investing in water infrastructure and the ability of local water managers to diversify supplies are also essential to building climate resilience throughout the state.
Surveying the recently scorched earth of Big Basin Redwoods State Park with the nation’s top environmental official this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged that it might be time for mandatory statewide water restrictions — in six weeks or so.
What is he waiting for?
When Gov. Gavin Newsom asked Californians to voluntarily conserve water last week as he stood in front of the retreating shoreline at Lopez Lake in San Luis Obispo County, some must have had déjà vu.
It was only six years ago when former Gov. Jerry Brown stood in a field near Lake Tahoe that was bereft of normally plentiful snow and called for water restrictions amid the state’s punishing years-long drought.
On July 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded two earlier drought emergency declarations to cover 50 of the state’s 58 counties. In May, he directed state agencies to consider easing requirements for reservoir releases to conserve water upstream, and to make water transfers easier. Both are needed.
Notably, the governor’s emergency proclamation did not impose water conservation mandates. Instead, Newsom is leaving water conservation to each region — a smart and necessary approach that incentivizes regional investments in water supply.
In a stark indication of California’s growing water crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday declared a drought emergency in 41 counties, including areas of the Central Valley that had urged action on behalf of agricultural growers.
Newsom’s proclamation dramatically expands the drought emergency he declared in Sonoma and Mendocino counties last month, and now covers 30% of the state’s population.
“With the reality of climate change abundantly clear in California, we’re taking urgent action to address acute water supply shortfalls in Northern and Central California while also building our water resilience to safeguard communities in the decades ahead,” Newsom said in a prepared statement. “We’re working with local officials and other partners to protect public health and safety and the environment, and call on all Californians to help meet this challenge by stepping up their efforts to save water.”
Bonham is the director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood on a bone-dry lakebed in Northern California and announced the state is experiencing drought conditions again. Thus far, the most severe conditions are in specific northern watersheds such as the Russian and Klamath river basins. In the San Diego region, investments in diversifying water sources, conserving and recycling have enhanced resiliency to drought conditions.
