Local News

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a statewide drought Wednesday after two years of below-average rainfall, low snowmelt runoff and the largest court-ordered restrictions on water transfers in state history.

The governor and top water officials said residents and water managers must react now to cut their water use, or face the possibility of water rationing next year if there is another dry winter.

"We must recognize the severity of the crisis that we face," Schwarzenegger said at a Capitol news conference.

He signed an executive order directing the state's response to unusually dry conditions that are damaging crops, harming water quality and causing extreme fire danger across California. Many communities already are requiring water conservation or rationing to deal with the shortfall.

The statewide drought declaration is the first since 1991, when Gov. Pete Wilson acted in the fifth year of a drought that lasted into 1992.

Schwarzenegger directed the state Department of Water Resources to help speed water transfers to areas with the worst shortages, to help local water districts with conservation efforts and to assist farmers suffering losses from the drought.

In addition, the governor is naming two "water czars," one to coordinate conservation programs and the other to speed water transfers around the state.

California depends on winter snow accumulating in the Sierra Nevada for much of its summer water supply. But March, April and May were the driest winter months on record, forcing water use cutbacks by farmers and urban residents alike.

The Western Regional Climate Center in Reno reported that California statewide precipitation during that period was 1.2 inches, or just 22 percent of average for the 114 years since record-keeping began.

Snow measurements last month found the Sierra held just 69 percent of an average winter. Runoff into California rivers was at just 55 percent of a normal year. The state's major reservoirs are at 50 percent to 63 percent of their capacity at a time when they ideally would be full.

Conditions could be even worse in 2009 if there is another dry winter, said Water Resources Director Lester Snow.

"We need at least above normal in terms of our snowpack, and then we're still going to be tight," Snow said. "The idea is to put programs in place now to soften the impact in 2008 and to prepare for a potential third year of drought in 2009."

California's population has mushroomed since the last drought 16 years ago, while the water supply has dwindled, Snow said.

An eight-year drought in the Southwest means California can't depend on Colorado River water to help supply Southern California. And a federal judge's order last year requires that more Northern California water be left in the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to aid declining fish populations.

"We're suffering the perfect storm, if you will," said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. "The purpose of the governor's declaration is to send a wake-up call."

California has never resorted to statewide rationing during previous droughts because residents and water agencies have responded by voluntarily cutting their use, Quinn said.

Worst-hit so far is the San Joaquin Valley, which soon could merit an emergency declaration because of crop damage, Snow said.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said this week it would cut water supplied to Central Valley farms to 40 percent of the amount growers contract for with the federal government. Water deliveries from state reservoirs could drop to 35 percent, Snow said.

That could mean hundreds of acres of crops won't be planted this year, according to the giant Westlands Water District, which supplies growers who produce about $1 billion worth of crops each year.

The state is exploring ways to send scarce water to farmers for the growing season now while cutting deliveries later, Snow said.

"Giving water to the farmers in September doesn't help the fact that they need it on their tomato crop in June," Snow said. "It's not just the tomato crop that you lose. It's the employment that's associated with the tomato crop."

Schwarzenegger used the drought declaration to push his nearly $12 billion proposal to build more reservoirs and a canal to direct Northern California water to giant pumps that send it to central and southern California cities and farms.

"While we cannot control Mother Nature, what we can control is to prepare ourselves for future dry years," he said.

The governor wants voters to approve a $12 billion bond to fund delta, river and groundwater improvements, conservation and recycling efforts, and reservoirs. But legislators have not agreed to the plan despite ongoing negotiations with the administration.

Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines of Clovis and the State Water Contractors, an association of 27 public water agencies, echoed the Republican governor's call for more reservoirs and a canal to bypass the delta.

Environmental groups said a better solution is increased conservation.
Schwarzenegger's response "relies heavily on outdated strategies," said Planning and Conservation League Executive Director Traci Sheehan Van Thull in a statement.

The governor said he is committed to getting a bipartisan legislative agreement for a bond measure and water plan.

"It is easy for Sacramento to put off dealing with the water infrastructure," Schwarzenegger said. "But as we now see, there is no more time to waste, because nothing is more vital than to protect our economy, to protect our environment, and to protect of quality of life."

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)