Legislators, Local Officials to Discuss Drought, Conservation

By City News Service:

State and federal lawmakers were meeting with local officials in Riverside Friday to exchange ideas about water conservation strategies as California’s drought enters its fourth year.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, will be joined by state Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Moreno Valley, and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Chairman Randy Record for an “overview of the drought and federal and state water supply issues,” according to an MWD statement.

The meeting was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the Riverside Convention Center. Civic leaders from area cities are expected to attend.

“Ensuring reliable water supplies during this unprecedented drought will require the collective effort of elected officials, water providers, consumers and businesses throughout Southern California,” the MWD said.

Last week, the California Department of Water Resources reported that Sierra-Nevada snowpack levels were at 20-year lows, with electronic monitors showing accumulations at only 19 percent of the average range recorded this time of year.

“Only in 1991 was the water content of the snowpack lower -- 18 percent of that early March average,” the agency said. “California’s wettest months have already passed, and it’s now almost certain that California will be in drought throughout 2015 for the fourth consecutive year.”

According to the Department of Water Resources, about one-third of the state’s water supply is procured from snowpack runoff.

State officials announced on March 2 that modestly higher rain and snowfall this winter had elevated storage levels in several upstate reservoirs linked to the State Water Project, from which the DWR distributes water to meet the needs of 29 public water agencies serving 25 million Californians.

According to the DWR, it expects to increase deliveries from 15 to 20 percent of requested allocations. Last year, the agency only met 5 percent of allocation requests.

The MWD depends on State Water Project distributions, using those shipments to supply water agencies in the Inland Empire.