More water restrictions likely as California pledges to cut use of Colorado River supply
Share this:
Related
Related
Subscribe to Our Mailing List
Enter Your Email
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
The Associated Press Water Cooler
Advertisement
The Associated Press Water Cooler
By MARY LOUISE KELLY
Posted Mar. 18, 2013 at 8:30 a.m.
» Social News
SAN FRANCISCO – California Gov. Jerry Brown pledged Wednesday to cut water use to its lowest level in decades and said efforts under the state’s 2009 drought plan to tap the Colorado River watershed were likely to be successful.
Brown, in a news conference at the state Capitol, also said he will direct his appointee, state water official Scott Miller, to prepare a “full-scale study” of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
“California will continue to work with our partners and make the hard decisions necessary to conserve,” Brown said. “This isn’t about politics. This isn’t about who can make the best political argument for more. This is about the best available science, taking into account the state’s ecological and economic needs.”
The governor’s announcement came as California’s water woes are deepening. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers are in a state of emergency, and this week the federal government said it would shut down the water supply to six counties in the Central Valley – a big blow to farmers around the state who depend on the rivers for their water supplies.
California has been working with federal officials to find out who will temporarily fill the gap when the water supply is shut off.
Brown pledged to fight new proposed restrictions on water use announced Wednesday by the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the water delivery from the Colorado River to California. The cuts would eliminate a quarter of the water that would otherwise be available to help Californians keep their heat, power and water usage down during a severe drought.
In a memo to government agencies, Brown directed the state Water Resources Department to develop two “plans,
