Friday May 13, 2022
NBC Bay Area —
Thousands of water rights holders in the Russian River watershed could soon lose access to their water after state regulators approved emergency drought rules Tuesday.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously to reauthorize the Division of Water Rights to issue “curtailment orders” for up to 2,000 rights holders in order to preserve water in Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino and to protect drinking water supplies and fish populations.
“Climate change-induced drought conditions are not easing, making it critical that we continue taking actions to protect the state’s diminishing water supply,” Deputy Director of the Division of Water Rights Erik Ekdahl said in a news release Wednesday.
As the state’s drought drags on into its third year and after enduring the driest January through March period in history, residents statewide are beginning to face mandatory water restrictions and every California county is under an emergency drought proclamation.