WHen every drop counts

By Keilani J.

Dried up wells, raised fire risks, and widespread water shortages are all characteristics of the most severe category of drought, — D4, or exceptional drought — and according to the U.S. drought monitor as of October 12, more than 44% of California is affected.

This means that around 18 million people in California are experiencing the maximum level of drought as reported by CalMatters. In an article on their website published on August 18th, reports of drying wells and decreasing groundwater levels only continue to grow.

Yerba Buena High School Freshman Elliott March voiced their concerns about the dangers he and others could face if this trend continues, saying, “One challenge I could think of would definitely be prioritizing a certain amount of water, especially since water is a part of so many necessities. It would be much more challenging to allocate a specific amount of water to a single task since I’d be uncertain as to how much water should be used for what.”

An article by the Santa Clara Valley Water District shows a concerningly drastic difference between their water reservoirs — formerly full in 2017 — to 2021. With the Oroville Reservoir at 23% and San Luis Reservoir at 15% capacity, they are visual portrayals and examples of how extreme and exceptional drought conditions can impact water supply.

“We’re all looking forward to receiving the much-needed rain. However, for the drought to end, our region would need several more storms to fill our local reservoirs and produce enough snowpack in the Sierra Nevada to fill state and federal reservoirs. These reservoirs, along with ongoing snowmelt and runoff through the summer, provide Santa Clara County with about half of our yearly water supply.” said Valley Water Board Chair Tony Estremera in a statement posted on October 21, sourced from the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s official website.

Neeta Bijoor, a senior water specialist at Valley Water, commented about what the public needed to focus more on. "During the last drought we made a call for 20% conservation in February of 2014. That was achieved for the first time in November, and it took nine months to reach the call, so we know that it’s a gradual process to achieve the call for conservation that we’ve made.”

“What Climate Change Means for California” by the United States Environmental Protection Agency talks about how climate change aids droughts and effects drinking water sources, including snowpack decline, increased rates of water evaporation, drier soils, and less water availability.

“We did find that climate change has the potential to impact future water supplies for the reason that climate change is expected to increase the frequency, severity, and duration of drought,” said Bijoor. “When we have droughts, we have less local water available as well. Much of the imported water we use in our county comes from the state’s snowpack. Because the drought decreased statewide snowpack, our imported water allocations this year are low. The amount of imported water we may receive next year is uncertain.”

On July 8, Governor Gavin Newsom announced an executive order for all Californians to voluntarily reduce water use by 15% compared to 2019. As of October 19, he had declared a drought emergency statewide, and called for all Californians to up their efforts to save water.

Source A worker adjusts a sprinkler at a residence during a drought in Morgan Hill, California. (David Paul Morris/ Bloomberg via. Getty Images)

"As the western U.S. faces a potential third year of drought, it’s critical that Californians across the state redouble our efforts to save water in every way possible,” said Governor Newsom.

According to a story by Mercury News, San Jose Water Company, who provides drinking water to 1 million people, could possibly set water budgets and drought penalties to all these residents. These are the same rules put in place during Carlifornia’s last drought in 2015 and 2016, which requires 15% water use reductions relative to 2019 or financial penalties for every unit of water homeowners use above that amount. That’s $7.13 for every 748 gallons of water for people who exceed the limit.

In the same article, vice president of the San Jose Water Company John Tang says, “We’re taking this very seriously. We’re hopeful Mother Nature is Going to deliver this winter, but hope is not always a good strategy.”

As reservoirs reach historical lows, paired with the slow call for water conservation, we can see how much harm droughts have the power to do.

“We don’t know how long it will go on. Every drop of water that we can save now is going to blunt the pain that we feel next year.” said Tang.