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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 19 March 2022
Drought-stricken California imposes new round of water cuts

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Lake remain below histori-
Associated Press cal levels and less water
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) from melting snow is ex-
— California's urban wa- pected to trickle down the
ter users and farmers who mountains this spring.
rely on supplies from state Current predictions esti-
reservoirs will get less than mate the state will have
planned this year as fears about 57% of its histori-
of a third consecutive dry cal median runoff this
year become reality, state April through July, said
officials announced Friday. Alan Haynes, hydrologist
Water agencies that serve in charge for the Califor-
27 million people and nia Nevada River Forecast
750,000 acres (303,514 Center of the National
hectares) of farmland, will Oceanic and Atmospher-
get just 5% of what they've ic Administration. Melted
requested this year from snow traditionally provides
state supplies beyond about a third of the state's
what's needed for critical water supply.
activities such as drinking A very wet December put
and bathing. water content in the snow
That's down from the 15% In this Aug. 22, 2021, file photo, a family walks over cracked mud near Lake Oroville's shore as at 160% of normal levels,
allocation state officials water levels remain low due to continuing drought conditions in Oroville, Calif. but isn't resulting in as much
had announced in Janu- Associated Press water runoff as expected
ary, after a wet December because warmer tempera-
fueled hopes of a lessening unique needs are better month in 2020, due to dry he said. tures are causing some of
drought. poised than state officials conditions and warm tem- California is in its second that water to evaporate
But a wet winter didn't ma- to set water use restrictions, peratures. acute drought in less than rather than flow into rivers
terialize and unless several Nemeth said. About a third of Southern a decade, and scientists and streams as it melts, said
more inches of rain falls this "I think with this reduced al- California's water comes say the U.S. West is broad- Nemeth, the Department
month, the January-March location we are going to from state supplies, mostly ly experiencing the worst of Water Resources direc-
period will be the driest see more urban areas in routed through the Met- megadrought in 1,200 tor.
start to a California year at California move into some ropolitan Water District of years, made more intense A persistent lack of water
least a century. That's when kind of mandatory water Southern California, which by climate change. could produce a range of
most of the state's rain and conservation," she said in serves 19 million people. People adapted their wa- negative consequences
snow typically falls. an interview. Abel Hagekhalil, the dis- ter use during the state's for California, including
Mandatory restrictions on State officials will continue trict's general manager, last drought, in part by rip- farmers fallowing fields and
using water for outdoor ac- urging people to voluntarily said in a statement Friday ping up sprinkler-hungry endangered salmon and
tivities like landscaping and cut water use by 15%, an that the public needs to do lawns and replacing them other fish dying.
other purposes may come amount designed to get more to save water. with drought-resistant land- The water providers that
from local water agencies Californians' collective wa- "We all need to take this scaping. rely on state supplies have
as they continue to grap- ter use back to what it was drought more seriously and Many of those water-sav- a certain amount they of
ple with limited supplies, during the last drought, significantly step up our ing habits stuck. water they can request
said Karla Nemeth, director which lasted from 2012 to water-saving efforts to help But the dry conditions that from the state, and state
of the California Depart- 2016, Nemeth said. preserve our dropping stor- began anew in 2020 are officials make determina-
ment of Water Resources. Statewide water use in Jan- age levels and ensure we demanding more conser- tions through the winter on
Local water agencies that uary actually went up 2.6% have the water we need vation, as reservoirs such how much the providers
know their communities' compared to the same into the summer and fall," as Lake Oroville and Shasta will get based on supply.q
Bird flu case forces killing of 5.3 million chickens in Iowa

at another Iowa egg-laying have been killed or will be Iowa. Another egg-laying
farm will force the killing of destroyed soon. chicken farm with nearly
more than 5 million chick- Spread of the disease is 916,000 birds was reported
ens, state officials said Fri- largely blamed on the with the virus on March 10
day. droppings or nasal dis- in Taylor County in south-
It's the second confirmed charge of infected wild west Iowa.
case of avian influenza in birds, such as ducks and The Centers for Disease
Buena Vista County, about geese, which can contami- Control and Prevention
160 miles (257 kilometers) nate dust and soil. Infected said the cases in birds do
northwest of Des Moines, wild birds have been found not present an immediate
but the latest outbreak is at in at least 24 states, and the public health concern. No
an operation with 5.3 mil- virus has been circulating in human cases of the avian
lion chickens. The earlier migrating waterfowl in Eu- influenza virus have been
case was at a farm with rope and Asia for nearly a detected in the United

In this Oct. 21, 2015, file photo, cage-free chickens walk in a about 50,000 turkeys. year. States. It remains safe to
fenced pasture at an organic farm near Waukon, Iowa. The latest case confirmed The first Iowa case was eat poultry products. Cook-
Associated Press by the state Department identified on March 1 in a ing of poultry and eggs to
of Agriculture means nearly backyard flock of 42 ducks an internal temperature
By DAVID PITT DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — 12.6 million chicken and tur- and geese in Pottawat- of 165 ˚F kills bacteria and
Associated Press The confirmation of bird flu keys in at least eight states tamie County in western viruses.q