California will provide 100% of the water requested by cities and farms for the first time in years thanks to winter storms that filled reservoirs and runoff from a record snowpack, regulators announced Thursday. The State Water Project will provide full allocations to 29 water agencies supplying about 27 million customers and 750,000 acres of farmland, the Department of Water Resources said. As late as March, the agency was only expecting to provide 75% of requested water supplies.
Water shortage on Salt Spring Island sparks call for change
Since Salt Spring Island's only public laundry facility closed in 2016, resident Cherie Geavreau has wanted to open a new one, but there's a big obstacle in the way. The local authority that regulates and distributes the island's water has placed a moratorium on water usage, and hasn't yet decided whether to allow the larger water pipe that Geavreau needs to run the laundromat efficiently.