While the rest of the country freezes, Santa Barbara is now in “exceptional” drought conditions.
As of Feb. 20, the state of the water shortage in Santa Barbara County has officially been increased from “extreme” to “exceptional.”
This is the first time in 15 years that Santa Barbara has been in this condition.
As of mid-February, Lake Cachuma (a major source of water for the county) stood below 39 percent capacity, and Gibraltar Reservoir was down to 1.4 percent.
Residents of the city have been asked to cut their usage by 20 percent, with Montecito and Summerland home and business owners required to reduce their water consumption to 30 percent.
The Central Coast Water Agency also recently announced that Santa Barbara county may not be receiving a delivery of new state water for this year, which will possibly create a catastrophe for Santa Barbara and the surrounding districts.
These restrictions do not affect all of Santa Barbara County. However, areas like Carpinteria, which has a large endowment of groundwater, will likely be less affected.
Rainfall at the end of February brought almost six inches of water to the City of Santa Barbara and the surrounding area, but water rationing will continue to be enforced.
Members of the Laguna community have been doing their part to relieve the drought:
“I’m watering my outdoor garden less and I’m using my cat bowl’s water to water my indoor plants!” said Middle School English and Elements of Grammar teacher Ms. Norgaarden.
It is still unclear as to what the long-term effect of the drought will be. Santa Barbara residents should continue to be mindful of their water usage.