The governor's in a very tricky situation, said Darry Sragow, a longtime California Democratic strategist. While Newsom may be considering drought controls, I'm sure he's hearing voices telling him that Californians can only tolerate so much pain and suffering.
A disappointing winter has left California's water supplies at half of average levels. Fights over water are perpetual in California, waxing and waning alongside supplies, and memories are fresh of the worst drought in California's recorded history that stretched from 2012-16. The development of a new drought promises to reinflame tensions between farmers, cities and environmentalists, with Newsom caught in the middle.
California is particularly parched because 2020 was not only dry, but extremely hot. Experts think the state is about where it was in 2014, when former Gov. Jerry Brown asked Californians to reduce their water use by 20 percent. That's grim, said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California's Water Policy Center. The alarm bells are ringing.
State and federal water officials on Tuesday cut the projected amount of water they plan to send farmers and cities, the latest sign that California is entering another concerning dry spell. The new drought comes on the heels of several years of record wildfire seasons, which in turn were fueled by the last drought. It's just the latest climate change-amplified natural disaster to confront Newsom.
Two states over, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared an official drought last week and urged residents to conserve. California's situation isn't as bad, but it's getting there. State regulators on Monday warned water users they could face supply restrictions this summer and recommended farmers think about cutting back on irrigated crops or reducing their herd size.
We are very, very mindful of the opportunities and challenges this places on the state, Newsom said last week when asked by POLITICO about the drought. He said more details in terms of messaging are in the works, but said it would likely take another year of dry conditions before residential customers would see statewide cutbacks.
Governors don't make drought declarations lightly. Former Natural Resources Secretary John Laird said Brown interrogated him about the state's water outlook leading up to the 2014 declaration. The next year, Brown issued an unprecedented order for cities and towns to cut usage by 25 percent.
He had to have the credibility and take the risk of asking people to conserve, Laird said. If it doesn't rain between now and May 1, then their facts are really in evidence. That's the time it's like, 'Batten down the hatches, here we go.'
Balancing the competing demands of cities, farms and the environment is a political highwire act even without a drought. Skirmishes at state and federal agencies have already begun: Commercial fishing groups and environmentalists warned last month they may go to court to prevent the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from sending more Central Valley Project water to farmers at the expense of fish.
The groups fear a repeat of 2014 and 2015, when endangered salmon died en masse because there wasn't enough cold water stored behind the Shasta and Oroville Dams, and are asking the water board to intervene with Reclamation. We're going for a repeat of '14-'15 because they just refuse to plan for droughts, said Doug Obegi, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
