Drought Emergency: Governor asks Californians to conserve water

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With nearly all of the State of California under extreme or exceptional drought, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive orderOpens in a new tab. today asking that residents voluntarily reduce their water use by 15%.  The Governor recommended residents to follow the guidelines at SaveOurWater.comOpens in a new tab..

50 of the State’s 58 counties are under a drought emergency.  In announcing the executive order, the Governor’s press release says, “State officials estimate an additional 15 percent voluntary reduction by urban water users from 2020 levels could save as much as 850,000 acre-feet of water over the next year for future use, or enough to supply more than 1.7 million households for a year.”

The State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources will monitor progress on voluntary conservation, reservoir storage, soil moisture and other metrics in the coming months to determine whether additional drought response actions are needed.

 

Mandatory Water Use Restrictions.

While the Governor’s order calls for voluntary measures, there are local mandatory water reduction restrictions.  In the Bay areaOpens in a new tab., those restrictions range from curtailing residential and business irrigation and imposing water budgets.  SFGatOpens in a new tab.e reports that in the City of Healdsburg, for example, residential customers are being assigned a water budget of 74 gallons per person per day while commercial customers are required to reduce water usage by 40%.

Deborah

Since 1995, Deborah has owned and operated LegalTech LLC with a focus on water rights. Before moving to Arizona in 1986, she worked as a quality control analyst for Honeywell and in commercial real estate, both in Texas. She learned about Arizona's water rights from the late and great attorney Michael Brophy of Ryley, Carlock & Applewhite. Her side interests are writing (and reading), Wordpress programming and much more.

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