Water Authority Board Chair Says Supply Challenges Remain Despite Governor Declaring End to Drought

The following statement by Michael T. Hogan, chair of the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors, is in response to Governor Jerry Brown's announcement today declaring an end to the nearly three-year long drought emergency in California:

"The official end of California's drought declaration means our short-term water supply conditions have improved considerably. But it doesn't mean our region and our state's long-term supply challenges have disappeared. We must continue to work toward implementing solutions to the ecological and supply reliability problems in the Bay-Delta, and we must continue to make cost-effective investments in major projects and programs in our region that diversify San Diego County's water sources and increase our overall water supply reliability.

 "Residents and businesses in San Diego County deserve a lot of credit for improving our supply conditions because they've done a great job in improving their water efficiency and reducing regional water demand by 20 percent over the last several years. Using water wisely and efficiently is still important, and must become a permanent way of life for San Diego County residents. Dry years are more common than wet years in Southern California. We can be sure we will return to dry periods in the future, and we must be prepared."

A link to Governor Brown's news release is here.

A link to the Dept of Water Resources snow survey news release is here.