Governor Gavin Newsom on drought strategy and proposing more than $7 billion to fund projects targeting drought.
Governor Gavin Newsom visited the Metropolitan Water District Water Recycling plant in Carson on Tuesday to discuss new budgeting proposals for water conservation and plans to loosen the severity of the state drought. Newsom said if the legislature approves his proposed budget of $7.2 billion, general fund resources will go to the water plan. "Water recycling is about finding new water, not just accepting this scarcity mindset, being more resourceful in terms of our approach," Gavin Newsom, Governor of California (D), said. "This pilot project that has been in place for a number of years is now ready to go at scale, four billion dollar investment."
Governor Newsom has taken several actions to combat the drought conditions in California, including extending the drought emergency statewide from last October into March and issuing an executive order for water agencies to implement Level 2 drought contingency plans for water use reductions by 20%.
And according to a press release from the Governor's office, the state is calling on Californians to take immediate action to avoid a crisis, including:
- Limiting outdoor watering – on average, each time you water your yard equals about 240 flushes or 13 full laundry loads (for a washer that uses 30 gallons per load).
- Taking shorter showers. Going to a 5 minute shower to save up to 12.5 gallons per shower when using a water-efficient shower head.
- Taking showers instead of baths – a bath uses up to 2.5 times the amount of water as a shower.
- Using a broom instead of a hose to clean outdoor areas to save 6 gallons of water every minute.
- Washing full loads of clothes to save 15-45 gallons of water per load.
The proposed draft regulations will be considered by SWRCB on May 24 and if adopted, then if approved by the Office of Administrative Law, would go into effect by June 10.