More water restrictions likely as California pledges to cut use of Colorado River supply in drought
By D.G. Yates | July 24, 2012
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Water for San Pablo Dam in Fresno County, Calif. is coming from the Colorado River. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Photo: John Locher/AP/Shutterstock.com
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Officials in California and elsewhere are bracing for the first day of a new water restriction that they say will likely take the biggest bite out of the U.S. water supply because of the drought. On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order requiring the state to cut its use of the Colorado River’s stored water in the next 12 months by 19 percent. The order also will require the state’s water agencies to spend more to buy water from another water source.
But there are fears that after California, the federal government is likely to slash use even further out of an unprecedented 10.7 million acre-feet less water that’s available in the river’s snowpack than the water that’s currently being used. Under a so-called voluntary, 12-month drought-relief plan, California has said it would cut its use of its Colorado River water by 15 million acre-feet, or nearly half the amount that the state uses now.
“We’ve been forced to do it so that we can survive,” Brown said during a conference call with several other governors, officials and private-sector partners on Thursday. “After this, we’re going to be on a different trajectory, and we’ll see how long that will be.”
Brown’s order applies to water that California is allowed to pump from the river as well as to water that California is allowed to buy from the federal government. The state has already been pumping water from the river to meet a shortfall in water for its operations. The federal government is also buying water at a similar rate to what the state is using,
