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Riverside County predicts crisis in water supply unless new sources are found

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 3, 2008 at 7:24 am

From MyDesert.com:

In less than seven years, drought-stricken Riverside County might not be able to supply drinking water to 360,000 people - roughly the population of the Coachella Valley’s nine cities. The good news: You can help prevent this dire scenario, through desert landscaping and conservation, officials at the fifth annual Riverside County Water Symposium said Thursday.

About 800 elected officials, water experts and community leaders gathered in Cabazon to share ideas on convincing residents to reduce their water usage and ways that local agencies can collaborate on recycling and conservation efforts.

“We’ve been a victim of our own success: People have taken water for granted,” said Celeste Cantú, general manager of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, which calculated the shortage projection. “It’s been difficult to say, ‘Hey, we really are in a crisis. We really are in a drought.’”

According to Terrance Fulp, deputy regional director for the Bureau of Reclamation - Lower Colorado Region, this is the driest period in 100 years:

The state water resources on Thursday announced the snowpack water content is at only 67 percent of normal levels. The Colorado River, the valley’s major water source, is “over-allocated,” Fulp said. It could take years for officials to finalize a comprehensive plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which provides water for two-thirds of all Californians. And climate changes will make the Southwest even drier, putting further pressure on resources such as the Colorado River.

Even though this year’s average water runoff is a bit higher than it has been in recent years, it’s not enough to relieve the current conditions. “We’re in eight years of unprecedented drought,” Fulp said.