In Brief

California Communities Could Soon Run out of Water

News
By
published
mt. shasta from space
The Southern, Eastern and Western Slopes of Mt. Shasta were almost bare in January. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Robert Simmon, using Landsat 8 data from the USGS Earth Explorer)

In the next two to four months, 17 California communities could run out of water as a result of the devastating drought in the region. And the list of communities at risk, which was compiled by the California Department of Public Health, will probably grow longer as the drought stretches on.

The water systems serve small rural communities, ranging in population from 39 to 11,000 people, in areas from Santa Cruz County to Sonoma County. These small water systems often can't charge enough to pay for backup supplies or fix broken down equipment when it fails, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

To head off the crisis, the state is considering several options, such as trucking in water from neighboring communities, connecting to outside water systems, or drilling new wells. The state hasn't seen so little rain since it was formed in 1850, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google+. Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook & Google+. 

Tia Ghose
Tia Ghose
Managing Editor

Tia is the managing editor and was previously a senior writer for Live Science. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired.com and other outlets. She holds a master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tia was part of a team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published the Empty Cradles series on preterm births, which won multiple awards, including the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.