A Delta in Distress - Inside Climate News insideclimatenews.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from insideclimatenews.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
For the city, the move is about water conservation. Weâve got to be proactive to what we do and make sure we are not letting ourselves get into an extreme situation as we go forward,â city Deputy Utilities Director Joy Eldredge said.
Kevin Bingham of Bingham s Potable Water Delivery in Napa hauls water to rural homes that face such issues as wells drying out and broken pumps. He said the city s proposed water-cutting restrictions would hit some rural residents hard. It s going to have a devastating effect, he said on Monday.
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Governor asks Californians to voluntarily cut water use
Adam Beam
Associated Press
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday asked people and businesses in the nation s most populous state to voluntarily cut how much water they use by 15% as the Western United States weathers a drought that is rapidly emptying reservoirs relied on for agriculture, drinking water and fish habitat.
The water conservation is not mandatory, but it demonstrates the growing challenges of a drought that will only worsen throughout the summer and fall and is tied to more intense wildfires and heat waves. Temperatures in parts of the region are spiking again this week but are less extreme than the record heat wave that may have caused hundreds of deaths in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia in late June.
State expands drought emergency to Santa Clara, San Mateo counties almanacnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from almanacnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A dry creek bed connecting to the Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos on July 7, 2021. Photo by Magali Gauthier.
Closer to home, Santa Clara Valley Water District, also known as Valley Water, is the poster child for how quickly a water system can become vulnerable to drought.
Water storage rates in Santa Clara County s 10 reservoirs are currently 16% in Guadalupe and Stevens Creek; Lexington, Chesbro, Coyote and Uvas are in the 20%-25% range; and Calero and Almaden at 45% and 54%, respectively. Only Vasona is at near capacity at 94%, according to the Valley Water Surface Water data portal.
Anderson Reservoir, the district s largest, is at 4% capacity; however, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the district to drain the reservoir over seismic concerns due to its age. Located near Morgan Hill, Anderson is Valley Water s largest reservoir and stores half of the water in its system. The reservoir will stay empty for the next decade, depriving the county of that critical wa