Drought Forces Calif. Water Restrictions, Power Plant Closure

LOS ANGELES, CA — Deep into the dog days of summer, California is feeling some of the starkest impacts of the historic megadrought yet.

On Thursday, California was forced to shut down the Edward Hyatt Power Plant because there isn’t enough water left in the Lake Oroville reservoir to power it. On Tuesday, the state's Water Resources Control Board voted to restrict water access for thousands of farmers in the Central Valley. And officials in the town of Mendocino announced that they are running out of water, prompting water rationing efforts and proposals to ship in water by train.

“The fact remains that water supplies are extremely limited, and we are running out of options,” Bureau of Reclamation California-Great Basin Regional Director Ernest A. Conant said Thursday.
The board justified the restrictions, explaining they are necessary to preserve drinking water for 25 million Californians.

California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth said the closure of the Edward Hyatt Power Plant is just one of many troubling concessions to the drought.

“This is just one of many unprecedented impacts we are experiencing in California as a result of our climate-induced drought,” Nemeth said.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 100 percent of the Golden State is experiencing drought while 95 percent is experiencing severe drought, 88 percent is experiencing extreme drought, and a parched 46 percent is in the midst of an exceptional drought.

The decision to restrict water access heavily impacts Central Valley farms and the state’s overall agriculture industry, but for most crops, the growing season is winding down. If similar water restrictions are put into place in the spring, the effect on the state’s agriculture and cattle industries would be even more devastating.

The experts don’t see relief in the coming winter. The National Weather Service expects a La Nina climate pattern to dominate starting in September through the winter. La Nina typically exacerbates drought conditions in the Southern part of the state, pushing jet stream storms to the northwest, according to the National Weather Service.

This month, the Farmer’s Almanac released its forecast for a drier than normal winter in California. The West can expect some hefty storms moving inland from the Pacific during the second week of January and the end of February, but they most likely won't alleviate the drought conditions, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.

So far, this year is the third driest year on record, and it follows a drought-stricken 2020.
Beyond the dry lake beds and historically low reservoirs across the state, the drought is affecting everyday life for many across the state facing water insecurity.

In Mendocino, restaurants and hotels have been paying to truck in water for their customers, but even that option is begging to dry up, ABC News reported. One restaurant owner shut down the dining room several days a week while other businesses closed their bathrooms and offered porta-potties instead.

"It's dire and it's only getting worse," Ryan Rhoades, the town's groundwater manager told CBS.

In July, the governor urged all residents to cut water use by 15 percent. For most residents, it was a recommendation. Embroiled in a recall, the governor has yet to resort to the controversial mandatory water-use cutbacks that marked the last drought in 2015.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.