Lack of snow pack: Gov. announces
strict water conservation measures

Following a visit to the lowest snow pack ever recorded in the Sierra Nevada and with no end to the drought in sight, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced Wednesday sweeping actions and urged citizens to wrestle control of water use.

Brown announced resources to save water, noted there will be increased enforcement to prevent wasteful water use and outlined plans to streamline the state’s drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient.

During the visit, Brown and other officials stood on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow, just one dramatic example of what Brown called a “historic drought” that “demands unprecedented action.”

Last year Brown declared a drought state of emergency but now will issue an executive order mandating substantial water reductions across the state, noting, “As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible.”

Santa Paulans and others statewide have already been pulling in their water belt, local residents also prompted by rising water and sewer surcharge rates. 

For the first time in state history, Brown has directed the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory water reductions in cities and towns across California to reduce water usage by 25 percent, 5 percent more than the goal already set by the City of Santa Paula and adopted by the City Council in February 2014 (15 percent) and October (5 percent). 

Such a savings statewide amounts to approximately 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months, or nearly as much as is currently in Lake Oroville.