California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
On January 17, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown declared a State of Emergency due to the severity of the California drought. As part of his executive order, Brown mandated a 25 percent cutback in water use across the state.
Although California is expected to see a strong El Nino season, meteorologists believe the rain and snowpack will not be enough to break the drought trend. Given this new information, Governor Brown has extended his executive order through October 2016.
The order means water cutbacks across the state are still mandatory. Some environmental permitting and regulations will continue to be suspended.
Keeping all of the drought rules in place has some wary.
“I don’t know about keeping them all in place,” said Gary Kreman, chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, told San Jose Mercury News. “Let’s see what happens. Let’s see when the drought’s over. We’ve depleted the ATM. And until our groundwater is recharged, the reservoirs are back in place and the snowpack is back, it’s too early to relax the rules.”
