The San Diego County Water Authority’s board of directors today voted to cut water supplies to local cities by 8 percent.
The cut goes into effect July 1.
The authority’s action follows the Metropolitan Water District’s 13 percent cut last week. The impact is muted here because of the authority’s own Colorado River supplies.
The decision today will force cities throughout San Diego County to cut consumption by 8 percent or face financial penalties, heralding the arrival of designated lawn-watering days and other mandatory water conservation steps. (The cut will vary from city to city depending on whether they have their own local supplies or not.)
It’s the first supply cut since the early 1990s. It comes after a third straight dry winter in the Sierra Nevada and as court-ordered pumping restrictions limit deliveries of Sierra runoff from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.