Mandatory water restrictions likely for Santa Clara County residents as feds cut supply
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An aerial view of the dam and homes below it at Anderson Reservoir in February 2020. Anderson Lake is Valley Water’s largest reservoir and is now drained for earthquake repairs.LiPo Ching/Special to The Chronicle
Santa Clara County is likely to be the next Bay Area locale to face mandatory water restrictions as California’s drought escalates.
Officials at the Santa Clara Valley Water District said Wednesday they’re worried about meeting the region’s water demands after the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced earlier in the day that it was reducing water shipments to the district by more than half.
Marin County declares local emergency over drought conditions: Grim and deteriorating
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The water level is historically low at Phoenix Lake in Kentfield, Calif., on Monday, April 19, 2021. Marin County officials declared a drought emergency on Tuesday in light of deteriorating conditions already hitting some farms hard.Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
Amid deepening anxieties over worsening drought conditions throughout California, Marin County officials declared a state of emergency Tuesday.
The unanimous vote by the Board of Supervisors makes the county eligible for state funding and other resources as residents brace for a hot, dry summer.
Parched conditions are already “severely affecting” West Marin farms, the county said, where officials have described the situation as “grim and deteriorating.”
Entire Bay Area has gone from severe to extreme drought levels in just 2 weeks
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The drought situation in the Bay Area has officially gone from bad to worse.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the entire Bay Area is now in the “extreme” drought category, along with nearly three-quarters of California. According to the latest summary, precipitation in the state for the water year that began Oct. 1 is well below normal, in the bottom 10th percentile, and the greater Bay Area is “experiencing record or near-record dryness.”
A week ago, parts of Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties hadn’t quite reached that designation yet, and the week before that, most of the Bay Area was in the “severe” drought category.