The forecast for Southern California grass is yellow and brown from here.
On Wednesday, new restrictions on outdoor water use went into effect for more than 6 million residents in the Los Angeles area. The rules, set by the Southern California Metropolitan Water District, limit outdoor watering to one day a week in many jurisdictions, while others chose to stay below a volume limit, as authorities they are trying to drastically reduce urban water use amid record drought. fueled by global warming.
The goal is to reduce water use by 35 percent, as California is in its third consecutive year of severe drought, there is a miserable layer of snow in the mountains and reservoirs have been reduced to at historic lows. Water authorities have described the situation as an emergency that requires stricter restrictions than in the past, but also warn that it could be just a prelude to further cuts. If conditions do not improve in September, Metropolitan Water District officials have warned that they could completely ban the use of outdoor water.
Since the new rules were announced in April, the drought in the West has not subsided. The latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that 76 percent of the U.S. West is suffering from severe or exceptional drought, an area that is home to about 55 million people. Major reservoirs along the Colorado River, such as Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have dropped to their lowest levels in decades.
The California Department of Water Resources said last week that the three months between February and April were one of the driest periods in 122 years.
Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) warned that mandatory statewide water restrictions could be imposed. Nearly a year earlier, it had called on residents to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 15 percent. But that has not happened.
“All water agencies across the state need to take more aggressive action to communicate about the drought emergency and implement conservation measures,” Newsom said in a recent statement. “Californians have made significant changes since the last drought, but we’ve seen an increase in water consumption, especially as we enter the summer months. We all need to be more thoughtful about how to make every drop count.”
California water authorities also last week passed emergency regulations banning the use of drinking water to irrigate “non-functional” grass, such as decorative strips outside businesses and in residential developments.