Drought is over — governor says so
“The next drought could be around the corner. Conservation must remain a way of life.” Gov. Jerry Brown
Months of rain have filled reservoirs and turned mountainsides a brilliant green, but only Friday did Gov. Jerry Brown declare an official end to California’s drought emergency.
The move, which is largely ceremonial yet a welcome reminder of how dramatically weather conditions have changed, does away with a 2014 order that ushered in a period of unprecedented water rationing across the state.
Not long before this year’s pounding storms took California by surprise, residents were letting their lawns turn brown and sacrificing showers. Those who didn’t cut back were threatened with fines. Tight times are mostly a memory now, as the strictest conservation rules ended months ago, and many that remain will be dropped with Friday’s action.
Still, the Brown administration warned that it’s not time to start letting the tap run freely. Some policies introduced during the drought, such as bans on hosing down driveways and outdoor watering within 48 hours of rain, will remain in place. Most significantly, state officials continue to hammer out a set of long-term water regulations that promises continued austerity down the road.
“This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “Conservation must remain a way of life.”
Even with the state’s major lakes and reservoirs barely able to hold more water, effects of the five-year drought linger.
Drinking water supplies in parts of Southern California have been slow to replenish. The Sierra Nevada is experiencing a near-record tree die-off. And aquifers statewide were so overpumped during the dry years that the ground above them, in some cases, has begun to sink.
Areas of the San Joaquin Valley, where the groundwater problem is most severe, were excluded from Friday’s order lifting the drought emergency. In Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne counties, state assistance
programs continue, and officials don’t want to ease the pressure for water savings.
The long-term policy the state is pursuing seeks to build upon the emergency rules. Under the plan, communities will be required to develop strategies for having enough water to weather extended dry periods — as much as five years’ worth. They also will have to continue reporting how much water they use, a requirement that came with the governor’s 2014 drought declaration.
The new permanent regulations also will include the prohibitions on wasteful practices that still stand, from the many residential watering restrictions to serving water at restaurants only upon request.
Finally, similar to the strict conservation mandates imposed on urban water agencies at the height of the drought, the long-term policy will have consumption targets that suppliers must meet under the threat of penalty.
The level of savings required of each community, yet to be worked out, will depend on a host of factors, such as a region’s climate, population and the reliability of its water supplies.
“It’s not going to be impossible,” said Felicia Marcus, chair of the Water Resources Control Board, of the forthcoming targets. “But it is going to be responsible and reasonable.”
During the drought, many communities bristled at the state’s demands. Heavy users like Portola Valley, Woodside, Atherton and Hillsborough were forced to cut water use 36 percent compared with their 2013 consumption, orders that prompted cities and towns in the Bay Area and elsewhere to pass a wave of unparalleled restrictions.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District went as far as fining thousands of customers for using too much water. One Danville household was slapped with a $2,290 penalty.
As drought conditions began to ease last year and Californians proved adept at saving water, cutting back nearly 25 percent cumulatively, water suppliers urged Brown to drop the state’s hard line on conservation.
This winter appeared to be enough to convince the governor. Precipitation in the northern Sierra, vital for filling the state’s biggest reservoirs, is approaching record levels. As of Friday, rainfall was 202 percent of average for the time of year. Snowpack, meanwhile, was 162 percent of the norm across the range.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, a nationwide gauge of water conditions, has classified just 8 percent of California as being in drought. That’s down from more than 90 percent a year ago.
“It is important to let the governor’s announcement sink in just a little,” Marcus said. “It’s worth taking a minute just to be grateful for all the rain and snow out there.”