On Tuesday, San Diego County was among the eight counties added to the statewide drought emergency, which previously had been limited to counties north of here. Here are four things to know:
The statewide drought emergency comes with a call for everyone to voluntarily reduce water use by 15%. (The San Diego County Water Authority will consider asking our region for a voluntary 10% reduction.)
The State Water Resources Control Board could decide to impose emergency regulations that mandate or prohibit certain activities related to water saving, but has not done so yet.
San Diego, and by extension, Carlsbad, is in much better shape than other parts of the state because of a decades long effort to conserve water and invest in drought proof water supplies, like the desalination plant located in Carlsbad. In fact, our regional approach to safeguarding against the drought was featured in last Sunday’s New York Times.
The Carlsbad Municipal Water District has continued implementing level 1 drought contingency activities, which are mostly voluntary, between and after the last droughts. Carlsbad residents have done a great job conserving water which has reduced the amount of water per capita used by almost 48% since 2008. For more actions to take and programs to help you conserve visit the city’s website.
The San Diego County Water Authority, which supplies water to agencies in our region, including the Carlsbad Municipal Water District, said Wednesday that even though our region has the water it needs for now, it will encourage increased conservation in support of the statewide proclamation. Its board is scheduled to discuss the matter next week.
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