Water supplies to Los Angeles as well as Fresno agriculture are being seriously reduced and in some cases completely halted due to the drought.
L.A. getting no Owens Valley runoff for first time since 1913
As severe drought continues to grip California, the DWP confirmed Thursday that it had dammed the aqueduct at Owens Lake in order to conserve meager Eastern Sierra snow runoff.
“Basically, we will not be exporting any water from the Eastern Sierra runoff to Los Angeles this year until November, and when we do it will be only 15% of what Los Angeles would typically receive during an average year,” Parsons said. Usually, the aqueduct supplies Los Angeles with a third of its water.
Fresno Irrigation District farmers to get no water for first time in a century
Fresno Irrigation District farmer Gene Branch said that while the news was not unexpected, it was still sobering. “It is devastating,” Branch said. “But what are you going to do, but turn on your pump and hopefully there will be a sufficient amount of groundwater to get us through.”
Branch, the former general manager of Consolidated Irrigation District in Selma, said he understands the tough decisions districts make in times of drought. “You can’t release water you don’t have,” Branch said.
Water theft becomes common consequence of ongoing California drought.
Huge amounts of water went missing from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and a state investigation was launched.