According to the Los Angeles Times, “It’s not even summer, and California’s two largest reservoirs are at ‘critically low’ levels”.
Shasta lake rises more than 1,000 feet above sea level when filled to normal levels, but is currently at less than half of where it should be in May. This means that Shasta Lake is the driest it has ever been since record keeping began in 1976.
California’s other big reservoir, Lake Oroville, is also at 55% of total capacity.
“This latest reservoir assessment is yet another wake-up call that California is in for a parched and challenging summer,” according to several reports conducted by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Beyond California, several projections have shown that the nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are reaching record-level and severe shortages that massive water cuts are suspected to be coming in 2023 for other western states.
Water cuts due to California drought will require sacrifice, and will especially impact farmers who rely on the water supply to irrigate their crops.
Citations
1) “It’s not even summer, and California’s two largest reservoirs are at ‘critically low’ levels” Los Angeles Times.
2) “National Drought Summary for May 17, 2022” U.S. Drought Monitor.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Summary.aspx
3) “Oroville - Storage Conditions as of May 20, 2022” Department of Water Resources, California Data Exchange Center.
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/ResDetail?resid=ORO
4) “Shasta - Storage Conditions as of May 20, 2022” Department of Water Resources, California Data Exchange Center.
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/ResDetail?resid=SHA
5) “Drought’s continued depletion of Colorado River bodes ill for California” Los Angeles Times.