The severe California drought has led to a water crisis so critical that three wells in one Southern California city have recently shut down.
Mauricio Guardado runs a water utility that serves 120,000 people in the Santa Clarita Valley. Three wells in the area have been shut for the last six weeks because of limited water supply.
"We couldn't extract any more water. The groundwater table is just too low, so it wouldn't produce anything,” Guardado said.
Dirks Marks manages the wholesale water agency that provides 50 percent of the water used in the Santa Clarita Valley to Guardado and three other retailers.
"On the imported supplies we've been cut to only 5 percent of our State Water Project allocation which is our main source of imported water," Marks said.
Dirks said he is getting a fraction of his normal supply from the Sierra Nevada and as a result, is pulling water from storage banks, which are only guaranteed for another two to four years.
“There are consequences to not conserving, they're financial,” Dirks said. “In the future, they could well be water supply related.”
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Castaic Lagoon water levels are so low, swimming and boating were banned this summer. Water in the main lake is reportedly 100 feet below normal.
