On the heels of one of California’s recorded winters, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he will reverse some of the state’s toughest drought restrictions and dramatically increase water supplies for agencies serving 27 million people.

Among the withdrawn items is Newsom’s call for a voluntary 15% reduction in water use, which was made in July 2021 amid dry conditions. He declared a statewide emergency in October.

The governor was also responding to a March 2022 order requiring city water suppliers to activate level 2 of their water shortage contingency plans, indicating a 20% shortage and triggering more conservation actions.

Newsom made the announcement at a ranch in the verdant Dunnigan Hills of Yolo County, north of Sacramento, where rice and almond farmers were celebrating a wet winter and were able to replenish some groundwater supplies for crops this season.

But Newsom stopped short of declaring the drought is over, saying some parts of his drought emergency order remain important as California adjusts to volatile weather patterns and the looming possibility of another extended dry spell.

“It is our duty to remain vigilant and enforce some of the provisions of the executive order to enable rapid monitoring of groundwater recharge projects, stormwater harvesting and recycling programs here in the state of California,” he said.

Provisions against wasteful use remain in place, including a ban on watering lawns within 48 years

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hours of rain and the use of hoses without sealing caps. The ban on spraying non-functional turf at commercial and industrial premises also remains unchanged.

The remarkable turnaround comes after California’s driest three years on record, draining reservoirs and drastically reducing water resources.

A series of drenching storms early this year helped ease some of the most extreme drought conditions in the state, refill rivers and reservoirs, and deliver a near-record snow pack in the Sierra Nevada.

Drought Map:

State water agencies that wanted to receive just 35% of the State Water Project’s requested supplies this year are now getting 75%, Department of Water Resources officials said. The State Water Project is an extensive network of reservoirs, canals, and dams that serve as an important part of California’s water system.

“We were able to do this because of the series of winter storms that brought robust currents throughout the system,” said John Yarbrough, assistant deputy director at DWR.

At a 35% allocation, the agency would have provided about 1.4 million acre-feet of water to its 29 member agencies, Yarbrough said. The increase will “more than double” to about 3.1 million acre-feet. An acre foot is about 326,000 gallons.

Tracking the drought in California

The allocation could increase even more in April, Yarbrough said. However, he and other officials stressed that the governor’s emergency proclamation was being amended, not removed.

“We’re modifying it rather than eliminating it because, first of all, there are parts of the state that continue to experience acute water shortages,” said California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. So is the Klamath Basin in the distance

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Northern California and parts of Southern California that depend on the Colorado River, he said.

“We are also enforcing but amending the proclamation because there are ongoing emergencies and droughts throughout the state, including…communities and households that do not have drinking water from their taps,” Crowfoot said.

Still, the change was welcome news after three grueling, bone-dry years that had wreaked havoc on the lives and businesses of millions of Californians.

By 2022, significant water supply cuts caused irrigated farmland to shrink by 752,000 hectares, reducing crop yields by $1.7 billion and causing the loss of an estimated 12,000 agricultural jobs.

The number of dry wells soared, especially in the Central Valley, as farmers continued to suck supplies from the ground to make up for reduced allocations, often leaving the state’s most vulnerable residents with little water and even fewer resources.

Urban areas also experienced unprecedented water restrictions that led, among other things, to one- and two-day water limits per week for 7 million people in Southern California.

The region’s largest water wholesaler, Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District, lifted some of its restrictions last week, but local water suppliers may still have rules in place.

Newsom administration officials said facilities were centered

round up

Groundwater resources will also remain in place, including those that allow the state to assist communities with dry wells and respond to emergencies as needed.

The provisions reflect that “we still have a groundwater drought, a groundwater shortage,” said Joaquin Esquivel, chairman of the state Water Resources Control Board.

Despite the surface water surplus, groundwater shortages will not be remedied by a single wet year, he said.

Crowfoot said the removal of the 15% voluntary rebate is part of a larger goal to move away from numerical targets and focus on a “more sustainable approach” to making conservation a way of life.

“It’s not about going back to normal anymore, it’s really about adjusting to a new normal, and that intensifies extremes,” Crowfoot said. He said he would not declare the drought over.

“If we declared the drought over and removed any emergency supplies, we would not be able to provide rapid and effective support where those conditions still exist,” he said, such as supplying bottled water to communities whose sources have dried up .

Such “climate whiplash” behavior or swings between extreme wetness and dryness has been illustrated by recent storms, including deadly blizzards in the San Bernardino Mountains and devastating flooding in Monterey County and the Central Valley.

Water managers said they are working to increase the state’s ability to collect and store water and modernize infrastructure under the governor’s strategy for a hotter, drier California, unveiled last August. Those efforts include recent moves to divert more than 600,000 acre-feet of water from the swollen San Joaquin River to help replenish Central Valley groundwater basins.

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Officials also acknowledged that Southern California’s other major resource, the Colorado River, is in dire condition.

The river is a water lifeline that supplies water to about 40 million people, but drought and overuse have pushed its reservoirs dangerously low, with water managers warning that Lake Mead could soon drop below its lowest inlet valve, effectively cutting off supplies to the American West .

Federal officials have directed California and six other states to drastically reduce their use of that river, but so far no agreement has been reached.

California, meanwhile, has received a bounty beyond compare in recent memory.

Nearly 65% ​​of the state is now drought-free, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Just three months ago, nearly 100% of the state was mired in some form of drought.

On Friday, statewide snow cover was 227% of normal for the date. Snowpack in the southern Sierra was 283% of normal, an all-time record.

California’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, had 78% and 82% capacity, respectively.

Yet another storm system could drop more rain and snow on the state early next week, forecasters said.

Times staff writer Ian James contributed to this report.