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Saturday, July 10th, 2021

Californians asked to cut water use by 15% as drought ravages the state

Author:    
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Thu 8 Jul 2021 17.21 EDT
 Link: Californians asked to cut water use by 15% as drought ravages the state
Stephan:   Florida is facing inundation, California is now asking residents to cut back on water usage by 15% because they don't have enough water. Let's all say it together: Water is destiny. You would think that in all the coastal and Southwestern states, albeit for very different reasons, water policy would be a topic at the top of everyone's list. But it isn't. We, as a country, are not doing anything like what we should be doing to prepare for what is coming. Therefore, we are going to see massive suffering, chaos, and death as a result of inadequate preparation.
As the extreme drought emergency continues in California, the water levels at Shasta Lake continue to drop and is currently at 38% of capacity. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty

California’s governor has asked people and businesses to voluntarily cut their water use by 15% as the western US weathers a devastating drought.

Gavin Newsom’s request is not an order, but it demonstrates the growing challenges of a drought that will only worsen throughout the summer and fall and is tied to recent heatwaves. Reservoirs across the state, which are depended on for agriculture, drinking water and fish habitat, have dwindled to dangerously low levels and some counties have already enacted mandatory water restrictions.

Temperatures in parts of the state are spiking this week but are less intense than the record heatwave that may have caused hundreds of deaths in the Pacific north-west and British Columbia a week ago.

California’s Democratic governor is asking for voluntary water conservation, which would include actions such as taking shorter showers, running dishwashers only when they are full and reducing the frequency of watering lawns.

“Given how low the reservoirs are going to be at […]

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