California bans water pumping for San Francisco, Central Valley communities

SACRAMENTO (CN) — California halted pumping from a number of the state’s streams Wednesday in a move that will affect cities and farmers from Fresno to Northern California.

The “curtailment orders,” issued by the California Water Resources Control Board, were prompted by rising water use during a punishing drought. Farmers and communities who rely on surface water throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed must look elsewhere than two of the state’s longest rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers, and their tributaries.

San Francisco is the largest city impacted, as it will now have to rely on groundwater and water in storage. The sweeping ban will impact a total of 4,252 water rights holders. Of these, 212 are public water systems that now must find another source of water.

Impacted communities span the state, from the Northern California city of Lodi to the Bay Area city of Vallejo, though most of the ban’s impact will be felt around the San Joaquin River. Smaller communities throughout California’s Central Valley will need to either rely on groundwater or find new sources of water.

It is not yet known how much water each community will lose, how much water the communities have already stored or how water districts that relied on the San Joaquin River will manage, as none have replied immediately to comment on the decision at press time.

The curtailment orders are similar to the ones issued last August barring farmers from using the San Joaquin. The board will later decide whether more curtailments are needed and when the order can be lifted.

The announcement comes one day after a new monthly report shows California water usage, especially in Southern California areas such as the San Joaquin Valley, increased almost 18% since last year — a far cry from California Governor Gavin Newsom’s goal of reducing year-over-year water use by 15%. The water curtailment order marks Newsom’s first, and so far only, mandatory cut on water use; in the report, his office expressed disappointment that water use had risen.

Water rights holders with post-1914 water rights and pre-1914 water right claims in the San Joaquin watershed with a priority date of 1900 or later will no longer be able to pump water from the streams and river. Other waterways impacted in the San Joaquin area include the Calaveras River, Chowchilla River, and Merced River. Impacted streams in the Sacramento River watershed include Bear River, Stony Creek, Cache Creek and Putah Creek.

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