STATE MAY EASE WATER CUTS ORDERED DURING DROUGHT, BUT GOVERNOR MAKES SOME RESTRICTIONS PERMANENT

East County News Service

May 10, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) - On May 18^th, the California Water Resource Control Board will determine whether or not to lift a statewide water conservation order imposed nearly a year ago. That order mandated that most cities and water districts cut water use by at least 20 percent.

The proposed change would give a break to cities and water agencies that can show that have enough water to meet their area’s needs if this wet winter conditions don’t last, rewarding those entities that took steps to increase their local water supplies.

Overall, Californians have taken the drought seriously and done a good job conservation. According to a news release on the Water Resource Control Board’s site, From June 2015 through March 2016 Californians have saved nearly 1.3 million acre feet of water.  A recent Field Poll found a majority of California residents characterize the drought as “extremely serious” with three-fourths of those polled said they are committed to ongoing water conservation.

Wet weather helped residents increase their conservation rate from 12 percent in February to over 24 percent in March. 

But while the heavy El Niño rains alleviated the severe drought conditions that have plagued the state for the past five years in the worst drought on record and added substantially to the Sierra snowpack that supplies much of the state’s water, the drought is not over.

Nearly 90 percent of California is still in moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report earlier this month.

Regardless of what the Water Resource Control Board decision, Governor Jerry Brown announcement Monday that conservation must continue since due to climate change,”We know that drought is becoming a regular occurrence and water conservation must be a part of our everyday life.”

Toward that goal, the Governor issued an executive order Monday making permanent some drought measures.

Water districts will have to continue reporting monthly water use and water-wasting actions by consumers will be permanently banned including letting lawn sprinklers send water pouring into streets or washing cars in driveways without a shut-off nozzle on the hose. The Governor’s order also requires more intensive drought planning by farms and urban water districts, and instructs state water officials to prepare new limits in case the drought returns next year.