The hope a few days ago was that the big storm that was forecast for this week would help put a dent in the drought status in California.
But the storm petered out and on the same day what rai we got came, Governor Newsom announced that he was signing an order to tell cities and water agencies to reduce their water usage and tighten their conservation rules. Not a mandatory statewide water cutback, yet, but an order calling for second stage water shortage contingency plans to be activated.
So, depending on where you live in the state, you’re going to see how local cities and agencies are going to do that and what it means to how much water you may be able to use.
So what should we expect? While it’s not true that it never rains in Southern California, as that old song says, it doesn’t rain a lot. And we need a lot more rain to reduce the drought. But no one really expects a lot of rain in the months ahead and of course that means less rain likely means more wildfires.
So for now, it looks like water conservation, whether voluntary or mandatory, will be the way it is here in 2022. It may not be what we want, but we do know that everyone can do their part. Because we’ve done it before. But going through a drought is what life in California is sometimes about.
(Photo Getty Images)