California expands drought emergency, covering 30% of population
May 10, 2021 / 9:46 PM / AP California governor expands drought emergency
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday expanded a drought emergency to a large swath of the nation s most populous state while seeking more than $6 billion in multiyear water spending as one of the warmest, driest springs on record threatens another severe wildfire season across the American West.
The Democratic governor said he is acting amid acute water supply shortages in northern and central parts of California as he called again for voluntary conservation. Yet the state is in relatively better shape than it was when the last five-year drought ended in 2017, he said, as good habits have led to a 16% reduction in water usage.
One of the warmest, driest springs on record threatens another severe wildfire season across American West
Gov. Newsom said he is acting amid acute water supply shortages in northern and central parts of California
Stark images of boat docks sitting on dry earth next to the largely barren Folsom Lake sheds light on the extent of California s drought. The reservoir s water levels have fallen by 50 per cent
Emergency declaration now includes 41 of 58 counties, covering 30 per cent of California s 40m population
Flickr / Creative Commons
The proposed allocation would be spent over four years and includes $1.3 billion for improved drinking and wastewater infrastructure, $60 million to help the agriculture industry reduce its water use and greenhouse gas emissions and $200 million for habitat restoration.
Newsom, announcing the investment at the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, said the state has lost some 500,000 acre-feet of runoff over the last three weeks compared to what state water officials expected.
That total is equivalent to the water usage by 1 million households for a year. What we ve experienced is what some had predicted but no one had necessarily experienced, Newsom said. And that was snow melt so acute that it didn t actually run off into reservoirs or rivers, but it actually seeped into the dry, parched ground underneath, much of it evaporating completely.