SAN BERNARDINO – (INT) – In spite of a few good years of precipitation, the Inland Empire has suffered 20 years of local drought…and counting.

That’s the assessment of Bob Tincher, Deputy General Manager of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.

“While Northern California received record precipitation last winter, the Inland Empire is in the midst of a drought that has lasted 20 years, so far, and shows no signs of abating,” Tincher said.

Record amounts of imported water was used to recharge local groundwater basins last year, but the area still has the lowest groundwater levels in history. “About 70 percent of our deliveries for 2017 were for groundwater recharge,” he added.

Story Date: March 7, 2018