In February, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation announcing a drought emergency. This urgency for conserving water came about thanks to the condition of California reservoirs. Our water supply is at such low levels that even recent rainstorms can’t pull us out of our water crisis.
If we, as a community, do not acknowledge the seriousness of our current drought situation, we will be facing severe hardship.
According to California’s Department of Water Resources, “Impacts of drought are typically felt first by those most reliant on annual rainfall.”
That means ranchers engaged in dry land grazing, rural residents relying on wells in low-yield rock formations, or small water systems lacking a reliable source will experience the first effects of drought.
City dwellers may not feel the effects right away, but affect us they will, if we do not prepare and conserve.
The Department of Water Resources also states that “drought impacts increase with the length of a drought, as carry-over supplies in reservoirs are depleted and water levels in groundwater basins decline.”
Last June, Gov. Schwarzenegger issued a statewide drought warning, and yet here we are seemingly unprepared and in the same situation.
The City of Torrance is part of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and it has been notified that deliveries of imported water supplies may be severely limited in the near future unless there happens to be a substantial improvement in the availability of water supplies from essential Northern California watersheds.
In truth, it is not completely the public’s fault that we are in this predicament. Even if we had the luck of having it rain here in the next few months, California’s complex water supply issues will still be a factor.
The Department of Water Resources believes “that increased water needs for environmental purposes, regulatory cutbacks on water supply and population growth, have created much more serious water problems than the state faced in the early 1990s.”
Mother Nature also has a role our lack of water. The Department of Water Resources also believes that “in the future, the impacts of climate change will complicate California’s water supply difficulties even further.”
Yes, we do have many issues against us, but hope lies in water conservation education. Every city in California needs to start practicing mandatory water conservation. One way we can do this is to report futile and wasteful sprinkler activity on the Torrance Public Works Web site or call Chuck Schaich at 310-781-6900.
Some people may think it’s hopeless, since we already face the challenges of the decline of our already limited sources but if each person starts conserving, we can make an impact as a whole.
It is necessary that everyone participates in using limited water supplies efficiently and avoiding wasteful water practices. Schwarzenegger and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) also need to go full-force on their bi-partisan plan to update California’s water system by increasing storage, improving conveyance, protecting the Sacramento Delta’s ecosystem and encouraging greater water conservation.
