Tuesday November 30, 2021
The Bakersfield Californian —
Bakersfield’s two largest water providers will soon implement new restrictions to head off the potentially dire impacts of an extended drought.
On Dec. 14, the city of Bakersfield and California Water Service plan to limit the days customers can use water for outdoor landscaping. Other restrictions, like no longer automatically serving drinking water at restaurants, will also go into effect as officials attempt to meet or exceed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to reduce water usage by 15 percent.
“We’re coming off of a dry water year — a drought year — from last year and we are several months now into our new water year, and it’s in November and we haven’t had a first snowfall,” said Art Chianello, Bakersfield’s water resources manager. “Because we’re in the second year of a drought, that puts us in our Stage 2, both for us and Cal Water. That’s a good benchmark to observe to make sure that we’re getting the word out that water conservation is important, and everyone should do their part and help out.”