Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeenvironmentCalifornia Imposes Unprecedented Statewide Water Restrictions

California Imposes Unprecedented Statewide Water Restrictions

In a historic move, California is ordering water use to be slashed by 25 percent across the state to deal with a drought that just won't quit.

With more than 98 percent of the state suffering from a drought that has stretched into its fourth year, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order from the mostly snow-bare Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains—an area that would usually have snow pack more than 66 inches deep at this time of year.

Men walk past a bench with a sign telling people to only water their lawns three times a week, March 24, 2015, in Los Angeles.Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

"Today we are standing on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow. This historic drought demands unprecedented action," Brown said in a statement. "Therefore, I'm issuing an executive order mandating substantial water reductions across our state. As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible."

Read more from NBC News:
Drought Worries California Cattle Ranchers
Neighbors Not Doing Enough to Stem California Drought: Poll
Drought: More Dirt Than Snow for California Skiers

Similar measures were considered during California's 1970s drought but were never implemented, according to the governor's office.

Brown announced the emergency measures at one of the regular surveys researchers take of the snow pack at what in wetter, colder times is a popular ski destination. Snow built up over the winter provides an important measure of the amount of water that will be available for California's taps and irrigation systems in the months to come.

Even before the governor's order on Wednesday, that supply wasn't looking good. Statewide, snow surveys were at about 5 percent of their average for the start of April, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

Read More Amid drought, some California farmers in near 'survival mode'

"This year looks like the lowest snow pack on record going back 70-plus years for many snow courses," Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys with the CDWR, told NBC News last week. Gehrke also conducted the measurement on Wednesday. "And that has very severe ramifications for what's going to flow into the reservoirs come next spring and summer."

The state has been instituting increasingly urgent steps to combat the drought. Gov. Brown declared a state of emergency more than a year ago, saying that "the magnitude of the severe drought conditions presents threats beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat." Late last month, he signed emergency legislation to fast-track $1 billion for drought relief and water conservation projects.

He has already called on businesses, farms and people in California to cut water use by 20 percent.

Read More Drought puts screws on California's swimming pools

RELATED ARTICLES
- Advertisment -

Most Popular