Texas and Oklahoma are recovering from unprecedented flooding, and the Atlantic coast is preparing for a storm-filled summer, yet California remains in a historic drought that may irreparably damage its agriculture industry.
Gov. Jerry Brown issued a sweeping executive order last April in the hope that Californians would collectively reduce water consumption 25 percent by year's end. Mandatory water-usAGE restrictions took effect on Monday but urban areas have already seen the average reduction rate go from 3.9 percent in March to 13.5 percent in April.
The State Water Resource Control Board is imposing cuts ranging between 8 and 36 percent, depending on whether districts have already reduced consumption. The East Bay Municipal Utility District lowering water use by 20 percent, affecting over 1.3 million Bay Area customers. Residents are advised to limit yard work watering to twice a week between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Farmers, who face revenue losses of $1.2 billion this year, face bigger restrictions.
California regulators have ordered a 10-day curb on water flow from Lake Shasta. The decision is meant to protect an endangered species of salmon, but may lead to deeper, longer lasting cutbacks.
"This is the part of the season that means the most for the crop," said Chris White, general manager of the Central California Irrigation District. "Any further cuts, if they're significant, (mean) jeopardy to our growers." Farmers will fallow about 564,000 acres this year because of the drought, according to estimates from the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis.
El Niño may bring relief to the drought-stricken state, but any amount of significant rainfall won't come until the winter.
The tropical storm, which usually lasts between 9 and 12 months, got off to a weak start this winter but still contributed to heavy rains across the Great Plains region. According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Mark Paquette, the pattern may hit the west coast sooner rather than later.
"If this is the case, then California has a good chance at being pretty wet for the upcoming winter," Paquette said.
Based on recent winters, Californians should not expect El Niño to wipe out the water shortage as it did during 1997 and 1998 when torrential rain led to flooding and mudslides. Nor should they expect it to target areas hit hardest by the drought.
"If El Niño peaks at moderate level or weakens by early fall, it becomes more dicey in terms of storm and rainfall for California," Paquette said.