California likely to experience its worst drought

California, January 30: California is possibly entering its third and worst year of drought, state officials announced on Thursday.

A snow survey conducted by the California Department of Water Resources found out that the Sierra Nevada snowpack or snow’s water content is only at 61 percent of normal level as compared to being at 111 percent of normal level during the same time last year, which still led to a drought.

Aside from this, the usual 20 percent of California’s annual precipitation achieved during the month of January did not occur. Instead, the state experienced many dry days during the first month of this year.

The dry weather the state experiences is because of the pressure exerted by the increasing population on the state’s water system, together with aging infrastructure and reductions in water being pumped through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta as ordered by the court.

Elisa Lynn, chief meteorologist with the Department of Water Resources, said, “We're definitely in really bad shape. People can expect to pay higher prices for produce ... and more agencies may be rationing ... some raising fees. We just don't have enough water."

Water managers from the Sonoma County are already expected to inform residents of severe water rationing on Monday.

Pam Jeane, the deputy chief engineer of operations at the Sonoma County Water Agency, said, “We have entered uncharted territory. A 30 percent mandatory rationing order is just the beginning. Further decline in reservoir levels could necessitate 50 percent cutbacks."

Other districts are counting on residents to do voluntary cutbacks. San Francisco has already asked the residents to decrease their water consumption by 10 percent but as the spring enters the city together with others in the state, it may impose rationing.

After two consecutive years of drought in the state and a third one well on its way, the water contained in Lake Mendocino is now down to only 32,000 acre-feet. The lake, which supplies 750,000 residents in the Marin and Sonoma counties, has a capacity of 90,000 acre-feet.

In Lake Shasta, the biggest reservoir in the state, the amount of water is also down to 31 percent of its capacity.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reported his plan to create a $9 billion water bond in order to help the state overcome the drought. This bond will be used to create new dams and reservoirs as well as for water recycling and conservation programs.