Newsom Declares Drought Emergency In Most Of California’s Counties; May Have Broad Impact

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday significantly expanded his April 21 drought emergency proclamation to include Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties where accelerated action is needed to protect public health, safety and the environment. In total, 41 of the state’s 58 counties are now under a drought state of emergency. Those regions represent 30% of the state’s approximately 40 million residents, though drought declarations there could have a much broader impact.

Newsom didn’t issue any mandatory drought conservation measures which could force urban Californians to curtail outdoor usage. But those measures are “are on the table” if there is another dry winter, said California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, per the Sacramento Bee.

Crowfoot warned that Newsom’s action could lead to orders from the state water board curtailing access for farmers ton water from rivers that feed into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a crucial hub of the California water delivery network. He said water has to flow through to the ocean to flush salinity out of the system.

Climate change-induced early warm temperatures and extremely dry soils have further depleted the expected runoff water from the Sierra-Cascade snowpack, resulting in historic and unanticipated reductions in the amount of water flowing to major reservoirs, especially in Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties.

Just last week, the National Resources Defense Council called on the state to release more water from the Shasta Dam so that “this year’s population of endangered winter run chinook salmon eggs and fry from cooking to death in too-hot river temperatures” due to less water.

“If the State Water Board fails to act,” continued the NRDC, “and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operates Shasta Dam as it plans to this year, about 80% of endangered winter run salmon will die from temperature-dependent mortality alone.”

If the CA Water Board does adopt the NRDC proposal, the Bureau of Reclamation would not be permitted to drain Shasta Dam to deliver water to its irrigation contractors.

That sets up another battle in the war between the state’s environmentalists and farmers. It’s a clash that Newsom — who is facing a recall election this year — had sought to avoid by issuing his previous, lesser drought declaration.

“With the reality of climate change abundantly clear in California, we’re taking urgent action to address acute water supply shortfalls in northern and central California while also building our water resilience to safeguard communities in the decades ahead,” said Governor Newsom. “We’re working with local officials and other partners to protect public health and safety and the environment, and call on all Californians to help meet this challenge by stepping up their efforts to save water.”

In April, Governor Newsom signed an emergency proclamation directing state agencies to take immediate action to bolster drought resilience across the state and declaring a State of Emergency in Mendocino and Sonoma counties due to severe drought conditions in the Russian River Watershed. On Monday, the Governor sought to ensure an expedited response to address acute drought impacts in Klamath River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Tulare Lake Watershed counties. Notably absent are any Southern California counties where most of the state’s voters live and from which much of the state’s residential water thirst emanates.

Monday’s drought emergency proclamation adds the following 39 counties to Newsom’s previous action: Del Norte, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba counties. Additionally, the proclamation provides new authority for the existing drought emergency announced on April 21 for Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

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