California Drought: Water Shortage Puts Communities on the Brink of Running Dry

By: By Eric Zerkel

Published: January 30,2014

 

 

 

Even though Winter Storm Maximus may bring up to a foot of snow to drought depleted California, it likely won't be enough to help 17 rural communities California state officials say are just 60 to 100 days away from running completely dry.
A task force at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)  compiled the list of 17 communities in response to California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.'s declaration of drought emergency just two weeks ago, which mobilized state resources to help drought stricken communities obtain and conserve water.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, 2013 was California's driest year on record, and so far, the new year hasn't provided much relief: A newly released U.S. Drought Monitor showed that exceptional drought — the most dire measurement of drought — now stretched across nine percent of the state.
(MORE: California's Drought Reaches Unheard of Levels)
The 17 communities that comprise the list range in size from 39 to 11,000 Californians, but all share a common denominator: They're decidedly rural. The San Jose Mercury News reports that water discrepancies between rural and urban Californian communities exist because urban areas like San Francisco spent millions of dollars after California's last major drought to implement water conservation infrastructure.
But in extreme rural areas like Lompico, Calif., which has less than a thousand water users, generating enough funds to renovate and improve water collection proved to be an insurmountable task, especially when the main source of the area's water comes from a creek that has long since run dry, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
"We have been unable to take water out of the creek since August and well production is down, and we didn't have that much water to begin with," Lois Henry, a Lompico water board member, told the San Jose Mercury News.
(MORE: How Much Drought Relief From Winter Storm Maximus?)
Relief may come by way of inclusion on the CDPH's list. According to the CDPH, the state agency will "work with the impacted systems to ensure that they have implemented required conservation measures (this could include no outside watering or rationing in addition to proper noticing of system customers of the required conservation measures); identify any possible additional sources (nearby water systems or hauled water); and provide guidance on the possible construction of additional wells to meet the system’s needs."
But some of those proposed solutions remain controversial, particularly hauling in water from other locales in a state with widespread drought. When asked where water will come from to help the rural communities, Bill Croyle, director of the California Drought Task Force told the Mercury News, "You are going to get it wherever you can get it."
And conflicts over water allocation may worsen in the future, too. The list, compiled from a survey of 3,000 California water agencies, stands at 17 now, but is expected to grow as California's precious water sources dry out.
"As the drought goes on, there will be more that probably show up on the list," Dave Mazzera, acting drinking-water division chief for the state Department of Public Health, told the Associated Press.
Scroll below for the full list of communities identified by the CDPH:

• Shaver Lake Heights Mutual Water Company (Fresno County)
• Sierra Cedars Community Services District (Fresno County)
• Bass Lake Water Company (Madera County)
• Whispering Pines Apts (Mariposa County)
• Boulder Canyon Water Association (Kern County)     
• Cypress Canyon Water System (Kern County)            
• Lake Of The Woods Mutual Water Company (Kern County)
• Camp Condor (Kern County)                       
• Jackson Valley Irrigation District (Amador County)
• City of Willits (Mendocino County)
• Redwood Valley Community Water District (Mendocino County)
• Brooktrail Township Community Services District (Mendocino County)
• Washington Ridge Conservation Camp (Nevada County)
• Ophir Gardens (Placer County)
• Lompico County Water District (Santa Cruz County)
• City of Cloverdale (Sonoma County)
• Healdsburg (Sonoma County)

MORE: Drought Landscapes

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Dry cracked earth is seen on July 25, 2007 near the Lake Mead Marina in an area that was once filled with water from Lake Mead in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nev. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)