A news article by AccuWeather.com staff writer Kristen Rodman, posted July 22, 2014, includes photos and descriptions of “Five of the World’s Lakes at Risk of Drying Up Completely.” The article begins by stating that, “Due to drought, water reallocation and industrialization, nations across the globe are finding that some of the world’s most iconic bodies of water are disappearing.” The five “iconic bodies of water” include the Aral Sea (between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), Lake Oroumieh (Iran), the Dead Sea (between Jordan and Palestine), Lake Waiau (Hawaii), and, gasp, our own Cachuma Lake:
Amid the historic drought in California, concerns in Santa Barbara County mount, as the county’s main water source, the Cachuma Lake, is rapidly shrinking. “We have had three extremely low rainfall winters for the last three years,” Deputy Public Works Director for the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department Water Resources Division Tom Fayram said.
Supplying approximately 200,000 people across the Southern California county, officials and residents are waiting for the rain to come, as the water supply available today from the lake is under 20 percent. “The lake was last filled in March 2011, just over three years ago, and it was full,” Fayram said. “Today, we are down to the capacity at about 34 percent.”
As a part of the state’s attempt to aid drought-stricken areas, water is being brought down from parts of Northern California and ground water reserves are getting tapped. However, these measures can only last so long, rain is still crucial. “We will get through at least October of 2015 and we are hoping to get through the winter of 2015/2016,” Fayram said. “Odds are it is going to rain again and the lake will fill, but our challenge is getting from this point to that one” (Ibid.).
