Southern California Declares Emergency as Western US Faces Ongoing Drought

Southern California’s gigantic water supplier has taken the unprecedented step of requiring about 6 million people to cut their outdoor watering to one day a week as an extended drought plagues the state following another dry winter.

The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Tuesday declared a water shortage emergency and is requiring certain cities and water agencies it supplies to implement the cutback on June 1 and enforce it or face hefty fines.

The historically severe drought in Southern California has compelled one of its water suppliers to implement “emergency” conservation measures for the first time that will affect about 6 million people.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) declared the water shortage emergency Tuesday and ordered limits to “reduce nonessential water use” to parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. The move includes the unprecedented measure of restricting outdoor watering to one day a week for about a third of their region.

Leaders in the Western United States are scrambling to secure precious water supplies for their states and cities as they battle the worst drought conditions in 1,200 years with little, if any, relief on the horizon.

Leaders in the Western United States are scrambling to secure precious water supplies for their states and cities as they battle the worst drought conditions in 1,200 years with little, if any, relief on the horizon.