CNN
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As California approaches its third year of drought, Governor Gavin Newsom is warning local officials that more must be done to save water and ensure all residents realize the urgency of the crisis.
Otherwise, Newsom said, Californians could face statewide mandatory water restrictions this summer.
Newsom met Monday with the leaders of the largest urban water providers and implored them to “take more aggressive action to combat the drought and better engage their customers to ensure all Californians are doing their part to save water.”
Even though reservoirs have fallen to critically low levels, the largest currently at half their historical averages, the state said, the data shows most Californians aren’t conserving enough.
In July 2021, Newsom announced a drought emergency and asked residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce their water use by 15%. In March, however, not only was the goal missed, but urban water use increased 19% from March 2020, the highest March water use since 2015, according to the State Water Resources Control Board. .
Newsom said water providers previously requested more flexibility in responding to droughts based on regional needs and supplies, a localized method he said he supported as long as conservation efforts improved.
But now he is expressing concern that the approach might not be enough.
“All water agencies across the state must take more aggressive steps to communicate about the drought emergency and implement conservation measures,” Newsom said in a statement. “Californians have made significant changes since the last drought, but we have seen an increase in water use, especially as we enter the summer months. We all have to think more about how to make every drop count.”
Advocates previously told CNN that government officials should focus less on residential water shutoffs and instead mandate them for businesses and industries that use the most water.
Jessica Gable, a spokeswoman for Food & Water Watch, an advocacy group targeting corporate and government accountability, told CNN that “there has been no effort to reduce the industries that use the most water, which coincidentally are the industries that are also sending most of the emissions that are fueling the climate crisis.”
Scientists found earlier this year that the current megadrought in the West is the worst in 1,200 years, and the climate crisis has made it 72% worse.
On Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board will vote on a statewide ban on watering nonfunctional grass, such as lawns that are useless, in the commercial, industrial and institutional sectors, and on regulations that would force local agencies to implement restrictions on the use of water. in all urban areas of the state “amid the possibility of water supplies being up to 20% lower due to extreme weather.”
Newsom will meet with agency leaders again in the next two months for an update. He also called for agencies to submit water use data more frequently as a way to gauge whether the state is meeting its water conservation goals.
Reference-www.cnn.com