Emergency declared for U.S. Southern California amid unprecedented drought

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Preparing for a fourth consecutive dry year amid extreme drought conditions, the largest supplier of treated water in the United States has declared a regional drought emergency for all of Southern California.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California called upon water agencies in the region to immediately reduce their use of all imported supplies in a news release on Wednesday. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, provides water for 19 million people in six counties, including Los Angeles, the nation's most populous county.

"Over the last three years, communities across the West have experienced the devastating effects of an unprecedented drought. We must be prepared for these conditions to continue in 2023," the agency noted on its website.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California warned in the news release that the water-saving call could become mandatory if drought conditions persist in the coming months. By April, the agency will consider allocating supplies to all its member agencies, requiring them to cut their use of imported water or face steep additional fees on water purchased from the agency.

The agency called on the entire region to further cutback water use as all imported water supplies are stressed by drought and climate change. The agency on average imports about half of the water used in Southern California from the Colorado River and from the northern Sierra, via the State Water Project (SWP).

The past three water years were the driest in California's history, resulting in record-low SWP deliveries to Southern California, said the agency.

The long-term drought in the Colorado River Basin has left lakes Mead and Powell - the nation's two largest reservoirs - dangerously close to levels that would no longer allow water to be released for use by cities and farms. In response, the federal government has called on Colorado River water users to curtail their use in 2023 and 2024 by as much as 4 million acre-feet a year - the total amount used by California in a year, according to the news release.

Colorado River, one of the principal rivers in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, is facing alarming constraints as a result of a megadrought amid changing climate.

"Since this drought began, we have been steadily increasing our call for conservation. If we don't have an extremely wet winter, we will need to elevate to our highest level - a water supply allocation for all of Southern California," Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil said in the news release, adding that "substantial and immediate conservation now and in the coming months will help lessen the potential severity of such an allocation."

Gloria D. Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board of Directors, pointed out that three years of drought are drawing down local storage in the western U.S. state.

"Some Southern Californians may have felt somewhat protected from these extreme conditions over the past few years," Gray said, noting that "they shouldn't anymore. We are all affected."

A study published in February in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests the megadrought that has ravaged the U.S. West for the past 22 years is the worst in at least 1,200 years.

Impacts from climate change are rapidly accelerating in California, said a report released last month by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, a specialized department within the state cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency.

"Across the state, we live the experience of extreme weather, deepening drought, and deadly wildfires and heatwaves," said the environmental protection agency's Secretary Yana Garcia in a statement.

Authorities said that California had the driest January, February, and March in 2022 in over 100 years.

California ended Water Year 2022 on Sept. 30 following a year featuring continued extreme drought with historically dry months and a record-shattering heatwave. The 2022 Water Year ended with total annual average statewide precipitation at 17.9 inches and 76 percent of historical average. Statewide reservoir storage ended the water year at 14.70 million acre feet and 69 percent of historical average, according to the California Water Watch, a website that brings together data from a variety of sources to allow viewers to obtain a quick snapshot of the state's water conditions.