California cutting water to 6-million people in name of “1200 year drought”

Southern California is imposing mandatory water cutbacks as the state tries to cope with the driest conditions it has faced in recorded history. Starting Wednesday, about 6 million people in parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties are limited to watering outdoor plants once a week — an unprecedented move for the region.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies water to about 19 million people, declared a water shortage emergency in April and voted unanimously to curtail water use, either by restricting outdoor watering or by other means.

"Metropolitan has never before employed this type of restriction on outdoor water use. But we are facing unprecedented reductions in our Northern California supplies, and we have to respond with unprecedented measures," Adel Hagekhalil, the district's general manager, said in a statement. "We're adapting to climate change in real time."

Nearly all of California is experiencing severe, extreme or exceptional drought. Very little rain fell in January, February and March, when the state typically receives half its annual precipitation. As a result, the state is facing its driest ever start to the year, with one recent study calling the current drought the worst in 1,200 years.

Governor Gavin Newsom last week called on Californians to reduce their consumption, saying, "Every water agency across the state needs to take more aggressive actions" to save water.

The Metropolitan Water District has imposed its harshest restrictions on Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, which depend on the State Water Project, a distribution network that brings water from Northern California to the state's southern region. During the ongoing drought, the SWP delivered just 5% of the water local municipalities had requested.

Areas of California that depend on the Colorado River for water have so far been spared conservation measures, although water levels in the river are also unusually low.

"Wasteful" lawns

The Metropolitan Water District is a wholesaler with 26 member agencies covering nearly 80 cities and communities in the state. Those smaller agencies are tasked with enforcing water conservation plans and charge stiff fines if localities go over their allocations.

Local agencies that fail to meet the state's reduction goals are fined up to $2,000 per acre-foot of water.  An acre-foot is about 326,00 gallons. The district will monitor water usage, and if the restrictions don't work it could order a total ban on outdoor watering in the affected areas as soon as September.

Most utilities have focused cutbacks on outdoor watering, which is responsible for about half of a city's water use. In parts of Los Angeles, for instance, residents are limited to two 8-minute periods of outdoor watering per week, with specific days based on their address, the LA Times reported.

"Using our precious water resources to irrigate thirsty grass that serves no function is wasteful, particularly during this severe drought," Hagekhalil said in a statement. "Our priority must be to preserve and stretch our limited supplies to ensure we have enough water to meet human health and safety needs."

An exception to the rules allows for hand-watering trees to maintain "ecologically important tree canopies," the district noted.

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I bet if they didn’t pander to and subsidize the millions of illegals there they would have plenty of water.

Climate change excuse and not gross mismanagement possibly coupled with bad luck? You decide!

It must be so easy to have that scape goat in your back pocket at all times.

Powerful hurricane? Fossil fuels bad

Cold in the south? Fossil fuels bad!

Warm in the north? Fossil fuels bad!!

Fires? Fossil fuels bad!!!

Water shortage? FOSSIL FUELS BAD!!!!

Turn the desert into an oasis and that kinda happens.

Good.  CA needs to fix their own water problems.  They need some pain first to give them a kick in the ass.  

One advantage to being on the wet side in the PNW- the well never seems to run out of water, no matter how much we use.  

Fucking raining today in fact...

Amusing that southern CA only now is getting the water restriction treatment Northern CA, which actually has the water has had for ages.

Jose won’t have any work.

“We're adapting to climate change in real time."….sounds stupid.

The fact that the SW was in a 1000 year wet spell doesn't seem to come into the discussion. Don't move to the fucking desert.

Make lawns illegal.

FYI- Tennessee is full.  No vacancies.

A $2,000 fine per 326,000 gallons of water.
That's not going to stop golf courses from keeping the fairway green.

Edit: If they were really serious they would ban all outdoor watering that is not related to food production and they would nullify all HOA rules regarding lawn care.

No one needs an assault sprinkler.

I just drove through the Central Valley on I-5

Looks like grapes are a new thing.

New plantings. Citrus and nut trees?

The last time that I drove through the area, they were uprooting older tree groves.

Still looks like there are water issues. Big time.

bet newsome's golf course won't be getting hit.  nor will nestle, who will continue to rape all available water from california.  it's just regular people who will always pay the price of the devious shithead they've elected.  not that it's any of my say, but I see colorado heading down the same shithole path that california did 20 years ago and it pisses me off to no end.

Holy shit what a joke of a fine.

Its a desert. That is its climate, at least for the last several 1000 years or so.

Got an ocean? Use it!

Imagine how much water 50 million illegals suck up each month.

Never mind. Got beat to it

Cue the Jake Gittes memes.

Very sad.

Does everyone in CA refer to the Interstates this way?

Watching "Air Disasters" on the Kobe Bryant crash. The NTSB actors used "the I5".


you're welcome

Why can't we build pipelines to scoop up all the water from the melting ice cap?

Parlance of our time, I guess

I refer to the local highways here as "the"

The 51. The 17. The fucking 10.

I'm sure that Pelosi has already turned off her yard sprinkler system to help conserve!

The dismal fuckers just killed off a desalination plant. Let hem dry up and blow away.

Driveway/ sidewalk washing device.

Attached File

Californication?

But at least they're saving their Smelt fish.
Amiright?

A large majority seem to at least. One of the ways you can pick up you’re talking to a transplant here if they refer to freeways as “the X”.

HAHAHAHAHAHA,

8 million acre feet of water has been released into the ocean through the delta since October.  
there is no real "drought".

Just a plan to manipulate the sheep into compliance.

Polar ice cap water would have to have a warning label that it might cause cancer like every other product that is made or comes into the state.

They calling it "1200 year" because the 1000 year was used a few years ago?

Yes, they refer to numbered highways and freeways with "the" preceding them.  The 101, The 202. That's spread to Phoenix... all my relatives out there say it that way.

To me, that's just highway 101, or highway 202, or Interstate 5, or I35 here. MoPac, Loop 360, etc. No "THE" in front of them.

Fuk commiefornia

California......I don't care.

Foreign countries buy land for agriculture in California.    Basically, California exports its water in the form of crops to China, the Middle East, and others.  People in California are sold down the "dry" river.  

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/California-Water-Idiocracy/137-2555742/

it was worth repeating

And to think we could have avoided all of this if we had just had electric cars!

Good. Fuck them. Maybe some day they’ll realize they’re getting exactly what they asked for.

Spend that trans money and filthy lucre spent on illegals for desalination plants

And electric toothbrushes.

Mr. Gingivitis

CA needs more illegals

My buddy opines:

Same for me as well. The 60, the 202, etc

It’s dry in a desert. Follow me for more earth shattering revelations.

If only they had a giant body of water next to them and maeans for abundant clean energy by splitting atoms to desalinate it.    That might relive their water and power issues all at once.  

At some point we are going to have to cut California off the Colorado river and force the to do this since inland states don't have that option.