Effects of the prolonged dry spell, which began a year ago during the 2012-13 rainy season, are being felt most dramatically in the Sacramento area. As the Sacramento Bee's Matt Weiser reports today, flows from the rapidly shrinking Folsom Lake into the American River will be cut dramatically this week. Some Sacramento-area communities that depend on the lake for drinking water are imposing severe restrictions on water use:

Without reducing water releases to the river, and without a return to normal winter weather, water agencies such as San Juan Water District would risk running out of water by March. At that point, the district’s water intake at Folsom Dam would be sucking air.

“This is an exceedingly difficult yet critical situation we’re in right now,” said Shauna Lorance, general manager of the San Juan Water District, which serves Roseville, Granite Bay, Folsom, Fair Oaks, Citrus Heights and Orangevale.

On Wednesday, San Juan’s board of directors will be asked to adopt the most extreme water conservation measures possible. The so-called Stage 5 drought restrictions would ban all outdoor watering, prohibit water from being used for construction activities, ban new connections to the water system, and call on customers to reduce indoor water use by 50 percent.

Lorance was unable to recall a prior instance in which such extreme conservation measures were adopted by the district.

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