California Suffers through Worst Drought Ever

 The extremes continue.  Driest ever conditions in California.

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Water restrictions began Wednesday for 6 million residents in Southern California, as the state enters its third year of severe drought and what water officials say is the state's driest year on record.

The program will end on June 30, 2023. 

About 27 million Californians get their water from the State Water Project, "a multi-purpose water storage and delivery system that extends more than 705 miles — two-thirds the length of California," according to the California Department of Water Resources. 

MWD has made an effort to switch its member agencies to getting their water from the SWP network to the Colorado River or groundwater. However, the departments impacted by Wednesday's rules still must rely on SWP as a resource to meet demand. 

Though, many of the state's largest water resources have been depleted by the persistent drought.

Watersheds have been getting below-average precipitation since October 2019, and "despite substantial precipitation in October and December 2021, precipitation in Northern California from January through March 2022 fell to the driest levels on record," MWD wrote in April.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/02/1102030650/california-water-restrictions-drought-conservation