Gavin Newsom’s government on Wednesday declared a drought in two Northern California counties as it stood on the dry shores of Lake Mendocino.
The statement gives state regulators expanded powers to curb diversions in the dried-up Russian river waterway and relax streamlining standards that would require more release of the shrinking reservoirs in the region.
Newsom was under pressure from some quarters to declare a state of emergency across the country. But the administration prefers a more purposeful approach.
Newsom noted that water supply conditions in California differ, saying he is unwilling to assume mandates across the state.
He also cites the 16% drop in total urban water use since 2013, the eve of the last major drought. California, he said, “has an attitude toward conservation.”
The drought situation is particularly sharp in the provinces of Mendocino and Sonoma because the local water supply is dependent on rainfall in the watershed of the Russian River.
The second consecutive winter left the reservoirs in the region even worse than during the severe drought in 2012-’16. The largest water district has warned that Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino could reach historically low levels by October.
In the south, the Marin Municipal Water District this week watered outdoors, washed vehicles at home, rinsed off lanes and watered grass on public media strips.
The agency, which serves most cities and towns in Marin County, could adopt further restrictions next month as it seeks to reduce the district’s total water consumption by 40%.
The picture is not nearly as dire in Southern California, which is mostly supplied by large federal and state water systems, rather than local precipitation.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which imports water from the Colorado River and the north, says it has record reserves in local reservoirs and groundwater banks – enough to carry it through this year and next.
Los Angeles, which is provided in part by the MWD, also provides no shortages.
With the brown shores of two-thirds empty Mendocino Lake in the background, Newsom signs a five-page executive proclamation declaring a state of emergency in Mendocino and Sonoma provinces.
The document also urges state agencies to work with local districts in California to address drought conditions.
The state’s steps include promoting conservation, speeding up funding for water supply improvements and offering technical assistance to monitor drinking water wells.
In recent weeks, Republicans from Central Valley in particular have called on Newsom to declare a state of emergency across the country, enabling regulators to relax the water quality and environmental standards that are delivering the Sacramento-San Joaquin- delta, California’s water lump, limited.
But government officials said they have enough management tools to deal with this year’s dry conditions on a regional basis.
“It’s time for Californians to get away from emergencies and get drought management,” Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water Resources, said last month.