This city paid $1.1M to keep faucets running through March as the price of water skyrockets in California

By René Marsh, CNN
Published 1:34 AM EDT, Tue November 1, 2022

CNN — Miles of brittle, uprooted almond trees lay dead on their sides on parched farmland in Coalinga, California, as an intensifying drought, new restrictions and skyrocketing water prices are forcing farmers to sacrifice their crops. Roadside signs warn against watering front lawns as residents brace for higher water bills as the precious resource disappears.

This is what a city on the brink of running out of water looks like.

“We can’t continue this. It’s not sustainable for our community,” Coalinga city councilman Adam Adkisson told CNN.

Coalinga usually gets its water through an aqueduct which runs from the San Luis Reservoir, about 70 miles northwest of the city. But as the West’s megadrought pushes reservoir levels to precarious new lows, the US Bureau of Reclamation this year reduced the amount of water Coalinga could take from the reservoir by 80%, city officials told CNN.

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