DroughtCalifornia communities running out of water

Since January, a number of California communities in the Central Valley have been experiencing such extreme drought that they have been placed on a “critical water systems” list — a ranking indicating that the areas could run completely dry within sixty days.

As theLos Angeles Times reports, many of these areas, such as Parkwood, have had wells dried up since July. The town had to make a deal with the nearby city of Madera in order to obtain a temporary water supply. A clause in the agreement has prevented residents from using any water on their trees, shrubs, or lawns.

“It’s a sign of how severe this drought it,” said Bruce Burton, a member of the State Water Resources Control Board, which has done the majority of the tracking.

While the list has contained twenty-eight different communities since the beginning of the year, some have chosen to take steps to improve their situations. Several have drilled new wells, built state-of-the-art storage tanks, or connected their water systems to larger ones, in the case of Parkwood.

The current fourteen, however, are approaching a crisis point, and are having water trucked in to the areas until a better solution can be found. The Arroyo Seco Resort, on the edge of the Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County, has been spending $350 per load of trucked-in water.

“Arroy Seco means ‘dry creek’ in Spanish,” said resort supervisor Glenn Dugger, “It’s living up to its name.”

Until now, the common cause for many of the problems has simply been the isolation of the areas and the lack of backup sources. Some are now warning, however, that should the drought continue, many more will be added to the list.

“If this drought keeps on going, some larger, more sophisticated communities are going to be in trouble next years,” said Tim Quinn, the executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.

State officials are currently working on how to assist many of the communities. Additionally, the California Department of Agriculture is working to construct more new wells and digging existing ones deeper with emergency drought funding.

In places like Madera, if anyone is seen watering their lawn, they are fined with a $75 ticket. Some homeowners say, however, that losing the yards is damaging economically.

“I feel bad when I go outside because it looks horrible,” said Phil Magos, a resident of Parkwood, “When people drive in the neighborhood and they look around, they probably think, ‘Wow, this is a really bad area to even consider buying a house.”

Despite the fact that much needed rains may arrive, it will take a committed effort to fix these problems in the long-term, something many residents fear won’t happen.

“If it starts raining tomorrow,” said one resident, “let me tell you, nothing’s more going to be done about the drought.”