DROUGHT PROMPTS CALIFORNIA TO HALT SOME WATER DIVERSIONS

Some farmers in one of the country’s most important agricultural regions will have to stop taking water out of major rivers and streams because of a severe drought that is threatening the drinking water supply for 25 million people, state regulators said Aug. 3.

The Water Resources Control

Board approved an emergency resolution empowering regulators to halt diversions from the state’s two largest river systems. The order could apply to roughly 86 percent of landowners who have legal rights to divert water from the San Joaquin and Sacramento river watersheds. The remaining 14 percent could be impacted if things get worse.

The rule includes exceptions for some uses, such as water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, sanitation and generating electricity. Without the order, officials warned much of the state’s drinking water supply would be at risk if the drought continues into next year.

The Aug. 3 vote is significant because it applies to the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems, which together drain 40 percent of California’s land and account for at least a portion of the water supply for two-thirds of the state’s nearly 40 million residents.

Known as the California Delta, the river systems get their water mostly from snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada. The past two years have been the second-driest on record. The soil was so dry that it absorbed much of the snowmelt that was supposed to flow into the state’s rivers. This year, California lost so much water this way that it would be enough to fill nearly all of Folsom Lake.

The board’s action is possible because Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency declaration earlier this year giving them permission. Newsom, who is facing a recall election next month, has asked residents and businesses to voluntarily cut their water use by 15 percent.