California communities face a strong possibility of water shortages and even mandatory rationing this summer because current conditions, officials warned on Friday.
Record dry weather, a shrinking snowpack and below-normal reservoir levels leave the region confronting a "worrisome water picture," the head of the Department of Water and Power said.
The bleak news means a second consecutive year of water anxieties in a state heavily dependent on water from the melting snow in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges.
"I have not seen a more serious water situation in my career, and I've been doing this 30 years," said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.
An outmoded delivery system and court rulings that protect endangered fish are also straining the system, he said.
After a record-dry 2006-07 snow year, water managers had hoped this year would bring ample snow and rainfall to fill reservoirs and ease worries about water shortages. Those concerns have been exacerbated by a long drought in the Colorado River Basin and a federal court ruling curbing water deliveries from Northern California.
Cities throughout Southern California supplement their own local supplies with two major sources outside the region: Sierra water pumped south through the State Water Project, and water transported from the Colorado River.
Los Angeles traditionally has gotten 30 percent to 60 percent of its water from the Eastern Sierra via the Los Angeles Aqueduct, but it still buys water imported from the north and east.
"I think we're all facing a worrisome water picture," H. David Nahai, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said.
Source:Xinhua
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