Drought Prompts Riverside County Government To Cut Back On Water Use

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday directed heads of county agencies to step up efforts to promote water conservation amid the worsening drought.

In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board embraced Supervisor Kevin Jeffries' call for county government to "set an example for the community of water conservation wherever possible."

Under the directive, Executive Office staff will work with agencies' administrators who oversee county-owned facilities and properties to "evaluate and implement efforts to reduce exterior water usage on non-functional landscaping."

"These efforts should protect trees wherever possible and consider long-term damage to landscaping in the process of evaluating options in the short-term," Jeffries said in a statement posted to the board's agenda. "(We) should look for opportunities to replace heavy-water-using landscape with drought-tolerant alternatives moving forward, to create long-term reductions in water usage by the county."

The supervisor noted that in his First District, cumulatively, barely an inch of rain has been recorded since Jan. 1.

"By reducing water usage, the county can help mitigate the impact of the drought and demonstrate the necessity of conservation during this crisis," Jeffries said.

According to the governor's office, this year's January-to-March period was the "driest first three months in the state's recorded history." California's largest reservoirs are at half their normal volumes, and the state's snowpack is more than 80 percent below average, officials said.

Last month the California State Water Resources Control Board announced a statewide ban on watering non-functional turf in commercial and industrial sectors, signaling the first of what could be a series of measures to promote conservation.

Despite the grim outlook, some of the county's largest water providers have said that they're in a better position to withstand further "dry years" than they were during the 2014-17 drought emergency. Most of them have maintained water conservation programs since the previous drought, and water tables are bearing up.

The Perris-based Eastern Municipal Water District told City News Service last month that it was "very well positioned to meet the needs of customers" going forward.

The Palm Springs-based Desert Water Agency told CNS that, even at current service levels, the agency has supplies available to meet customers' needs for "decades."

"The Coachella Valley Groundwater Basin has roughly 40 million acre- feet in storage capacity in the first 1,000 feet, and groundwater levels are currently sustainable and will be into the future with planned projects and management actions," the DWA stated.

Riverside Public Utilities estimated that, based on current demand, the city has "sufficient water supply for the next five dry years and likely beyond, but continues to encourage customers to use water efficiently and adhere to the city's prohibitions on wasteful water practices."

"The positive news is that we've done this before," RPU told CNS recently. "Californians and Riverside residents did an incredible job responding to the last drought we endured. There were a lot of lessons learned during the last drought that have made us more equipped to handle the current one."

Similarly, the Coachella-based Coachella Valley Water District said that the agency is "managed for long-term sustainability" thanks to "local water efficiency practices (that) are always a priority."

Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued a number of drought-related executive orders over the last year to promote reductions in water use. He said on May 24 that drought conditions and local water agencies' progress in cutting outflows will be reassessed in July to determine what actions to take in the months ahead.

California was in an analogous position by the start of spring 2015, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency, directing water agencies to reduce consumption by 25 percent. The proclamation contained a bevy of restrictions, leading to requirements that local water agencies fine customers caught watering outdoors during certain times of the day.

After heavy winter rains in 2017 that nearly topped off multiple upstate reservoirs, Brown declared an end to the drought emergency in April of that year.