The San Diego County Water Authority has announced that the region is protected from drought impacts this summer, and up until 2045, despite continued hot and dry conditions. This is a result of three decades of strategic investments that created an aquatic safety net for San Diego County’s $253 billion economy and quality of life for 3.3 million residents.
At the same time, Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher asked residents to continue embracing water-use efficiency practices that have become part of the regional ethic. Simple but important steps include turning off the tap while brushing teeth, fixing irrigation system leaks, and using hoses with automatic shut-off nozzles.
Croucher said: “Thank you San Diegans for everything you have done to make sure that we have enough water to meet the region’s needs now and for decades into the future. You have invested through your water bills and your water-smart practices, and those efforts are paying off in tangible ways. The key this summer is to stay water-smart.”
Key government, agriculture, business, and science leaders joined Croucher in thanking residents for their efforts, encouraging continued water-use efficiency, and marking the region’s progress over the past 30 years. In the early 1990s, the county’s economy was crippled by drought, suffering 13 straight months of 31% supply cutbacks from the Water Authority’s wholesale water provider, the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which controlled almost all of San Diego County’s water.
Today, the picture is much different: The region’s diversified water supply portfolio includes highly reliable, locally controlled and drought-proof supplies from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant and the nation’s largest conservation-and-transfer agreement, which provides high-priority, low-cost water from the Colorado River. The combination offers significant protection against droughts and other emergencies so that the Water Authority’s newly adopted 2020 Urban Water Management Plan shows San Diego County will continue to have sufficient water supplies until the 2045 planning horizon, even during multiple dry years.
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