Newsom Eases Water Restrictions After Storms Drench California

An automated sprinkler waters grass in front of homes in Alhambra, Calif., on April 27, 2022. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

The drought is not yet over, but this year’s wet and snowy storms have delivered enough water for California to ease residential restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced March 24.

Newsom signed an executive order Friday to stop asking residents to cut water use by 15 percent, a measure he first called for two years ago. Californians fell short of that, cutting back about 7.6 percent overall last June compared to the same month in 2020.

“Are we out of the drought? Is the drought over in the state of California?” Newsom said during a Friday morning press conference in Yolo County near Sacramento. “I want to affirm your instinct that it should be, it feels like it is. It is—and continues to be—complicated. And I know that’s disappointing for some because it would be nice to have a governor say the drought is over.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference in Dunnigan, Calif., on March 24, 2023. (Courtesy of the Office of Gov. Gavin Newsom)

The governor also increased allocations to water districts, providing them with 75 percent of requested water supplies, instead of the 35 percent announced in February.

He also eliminated the state’s emergency Level 2 drought designation for urban water suppliers put in place in June 2022, which required them to restrict watering decorative grass and limiting tree irrigation.

That was before the state was deluged by atmospheric river storms, bomb cyclones, and winter weather beginning in December. Storms are forecast to continue next week.

Recent ample rainfall has allowed the state to provide adequate water for the environment and endangered fish species and to pump the maximum amount of water allowed under state and federal permits into reservoir storage south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a region rich in farmland.

“California continues to experience weather whiplash, going from extreme drought to at least 19 atmospheric rivers since late December. It really demonstrates that in times of plenty, we need to move as much water into storage as is feasible,” said water department director Karla Nemeth in a release Friday.

A snowpack measurement taken March 3 revealed the state had received nearly two-times its yearly average, just behind the record snow year of 1982–83, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

The California State Water Project, a water storage and delivery system that extends more than 705 miles, will make more water available to any contractor who can store it in their own system, including using it to recharge groundwater.

The water department’s latest reservoir report shows some reservoirs reaching nearly 80 to 90 percent full. Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, was at 119 percent of average, the department reported.

The governor’s actions won’t end the need to save water, Newsom said, but it will send the issue back to local communities to decide when or how much water to conserve.

California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, who oversees the state’s environmental protection policies, said Friday’s announcement was “positive news.”

“Mother Nature in many ways has given us a great gift,” he said.