Brown calls for 25-percent reduction in use statewide

Gov. Jerry Brown imposed California’s first-ever mandatory water restrictions Wednesday after watching surveyors measure the lowest Sierra Nevada snowpack in the state’s recorded history.

Brown ordered the State Water Resources Control Board to put measures in place to curb statewide water consumption by 25 percent, and urged Californians to “pull together.”

Brown said his order should save about 1.5 million acre-feet of water during the next nine months, or about the equivalent this month of the water in Lake Oroville.

The new restrictions came as no surprise to those who have been monitoring the dwindling snowpack, the state’s largest “reservoir” of water.

Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Survey Program, said Wednesday’s measurements, the last that will be taken until next winter, were dismal. “It is such an unprecedented lack of snow,” he said. “It’s way below the records.”

Gehrke should know — he’s been participating in such measurements since 1987.

Brown, who made his announcement from the Sierra, announced other actions designed to prevent wasting water and to encourage new technologies to make California more drought resilient.

“Today we are standing on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow,” he said. “This historic drought demands unprecedented action.

“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.”

The state has entered its fourth year of a severe drought. Last year the governor declared the state was in a drought emergency.

Brown said for two years California water experts have been managing resources to assure the state survives this drought and is better prepared for the next one. He said the state is striving make sure water is available for human health and safety, growing food, fighting fires and protecting fish and wildlife.

“Millions have been spent helping thousands of California families most impacted by the drought pay their bills, put food on their tables and have water to drink,” he said.

Brown’s order includes replacing 50 million square feet of lawns throughout the state with drought-tolerant landscaping in partnership with local governments; creating a temporary statewide consumer rebate program to replace old appliances with more water- and energy-efficient models; requiring golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscapes to make significant cuts in water use; and forbidding landscape irrigation with potable water at new homes and developments unless drip irrigation systems are used. Also banned is watering ornamental grass on public street medians.

In addition, local water agencies must switch to conservation pricing of their water rates.

Those in agricultural operations have “borne much of the brunt of the drought to date,” Brown said. Hundreds of thousands of acres lie fallow, water allocations to farmers and ranchers have been reduced significantly, and thousands of farmworkers have lost their jobs, Brown said.

Under his order, agricultural operations must report more water use information to state regulators, who will be able to use that data to reduce illegal water diversions, wasteful practices and unreasonable use of water.

The order also strengthens standards for agricultural water management plans sent in by large water districts, and it requires smaller agricultural water districts to develop similar plans, with the hope this would ensure that farming and ranching communities are ready should the drought extend to 2016.

Brown’s directive will allow the state to take action against water agencies that haven’t shared information about their groundwater supplies; update standards for toilets, faucets and outdoor landscaping in residential areas; provide for enforcement of those standards; and require permanent monthly water use, conservation and enforcement reports from suppliers.

Brown said California will set priorities in reviewing and making decisions about water infrastructure projects, and he will require state agencies to report to his office about applications that have been pending more than 90 days.

He said his order also streamlines the permitting and review process for emergency drought salinity barriers needed to keep fresh water in upstream reservoirs for both human use and habitat protection, and simplifies reviews and approvals for voluntary water transfers and emergency drinking water projects.

In addition, he has directed state agencies to provide temporary relocation help to those who must move after domestic wells have run dry.

Brown said his order also will help the state gear up for future droughts by providing incentives through a California Energy Commission program that encourages new technologies.

The Department of Water Resources, also responding to the drought, said Tuesday it has drafted recommendations for the award of $19 million to 15 submissions of projects designed to save water and energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

These proposals have come under the 2014 Water-Energy Grant program.

After public review, a decision may be announced in May, and the selected projects will be funded through the state cap-and-trade program that is designed to combat climate change.

Doug Carlson, of the department’s public affairs office, and Joe Yun, of the Division of Integrated Regional Water Management, said the projects could save up to 110,000 acre-feet of water and prevent the release of 164,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The projects propose replacement of toilets, showerheads, faucets and washing machines in hundreds of homes, providing rebates for smart irrigation controllers and waterless urinals and replacing of turf with drought-tolerant landscapes.

Nearly 70 percent of the funding would be directed to low-income communities, specifically Alpaugh, San Bernardino, Farmersville, Orange Grove, Sacramento, Hidden Valley and Tulare County.