Sadly, this is not CGI
NBC News is reporting that California Governor Jerry Brown just issued an executive order that specifies water use to be cut by 25 percent statewide to deal with the state's
relentless drought.
"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."
Similar measures were considered during California's 1970s drought but were never implemented, according to the governor's office.
This comes after recent reports that California's "snowpack" is at
record lows this spring.
California can expect no water for its drought depleted reservoirs from melting snow in the high Sierra. On March 23, one week from the April 1 date used by water forecasters to predict summer run off from melting snow, the Sierra Nevada's snow water content was a record low 9% of normal. Near record warmth is forecast in the coming week and little precipitation is forecast in the next 10 days going into the long, hot, summer dry season. Melting snow normally constitutes one third of California's water supplies and acts to lengthen the spring season. This year summer will come early. Reservoirs and groundwater levels will begin to fall months earlier than normal because of the lack of mountain snow melt this spring.
Governor Brown, just a few weeks ago, signed fast-track legislation to expedite $1 billion in
emergency funds for this drought.
See below the fold for specifics and more on this story.
From today's release:
For the first time in state history, the Governor 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. This savings 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.
To save more water now, the order will also:
-Replace 50 million square feet of lawns throughout the state with drought tolerant landscaping in partnership with local governments;
-Direct the creation of a temporary, statewide consumer rebate program to replace old appliances with more water and energy efficient models;
-Require campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscapes to make significant cuts in water use; and
-Prohibit new homes and developments from irrigating with potable water unless water-efficient drip irrigation systems are used, and ban watering of ornamental grass on public street medians.
For those of us living out here, this has been a long time coming. Now we just need to get
agriculture under control.
But agriculture consumes a staggering 80 percent of California’s developed water, even as it accounts for only 2 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. Most crops and livestock are produced in the Central Valley, which is, geologically speaking, a desert. The soil is very fertile but crops there can thrive only if massive amounts of irrigation water are applied.
Although no secret, agriculture’s 80 percent share of state water use is rarely mentioned in media discussions of California’s drought. Instead, news coverage concentrates on the drought’s implications for people in cities and suburbs, which is where most journalists and their audiences live. Thus recent headlines warned that state regulators have ordered restaurants to serve water only if customers explicitly request it and directed homeowners to water lawns no more than twice a week. The San Jose Mercury News pointed out that these restrictions carry no enforcement mechanisms, but what makes them a sideshow is simple math: During a historic drought, surely the sector that’s responsible for 80 percent of water consumption—agriculture—should be the main focus of public attention and policy.
The only real nod to agriculture in Brown's release
today is here:
Agricultural water users - which have borne much of the brunt of the drought to date, with hundreds of thousands of fallowed acres, significantly reduced water allocations and thousands of farmworkers laid off - will be required to report more water use information to state regulators, increasing the state's ability to enforce against illegal diversions and waste and unreasonable use of water under today's order. Additionally, the Governor's action strengthens standards for Agricultural Water Management Plans submitted by large agriculture water districts and requires small agriculture water districts to develop similar plans. These plans will help ensure that agricultural communities are prepared in case the drought extends into 2016.
It's a start. But a very small one.