WaterCalifornia not the only state to face water shortage

Over the past two weeks, California’s long drought — and Governor Jerry Brown’s mandatory water conservation rules — have captured the headlines. According to the state water board, all restaurants, bars, and hotels are banned from serving water unless customers ask for it. Lawns should not be watered within forty-eight hours of measurable rain, and municipalities and private companies must limit watering to two days a week. Limits on lawn-watering will have a significant impact since outdoor irrigation makes up 44 percent of water use in the state’s urban and suburban communities.

The past three years have been the driest years in California history dating back to the 1849 Gold Rush. Low snowpack, and the fact that 2014 was the hottest year in state history, have made water conditions worse.

As the country keeps an eye on how Californians will adapt to the new reality of water conservation, other states must prepare to maintain the sustainability of their own water supplies.

The Pew Charitable Trusts reports that a 2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) survey of state water managers from around the country, found that forty states expect to see water shortages in at least some areas in the next decade. “As far as other states, if they haven’t seen it in the past, it’s something they will see in the future,” said Ben Chou, a water policy analyst in the Los Angeles office of environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. Residents of other states should take notes from California, Chou said. “Attention on California is due to the size of the state and the fact that we grow about half of the nation’s produce,” he said. “Other states have started looking at it, especially where water supplies are at a premium.”