California governor declares end to
drought emergency
Send a link to a friend
[April 08, 2017]
By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - One of the worst
droughts in California history has officially ended, Governor Jerry
Brown declared on Friday, but not before it strained the state's farm
economy and threatened water supplies for millions of residents.
Months of drenching storms and melting snowpack have replenished
reservoirs, which began drying up in late 2011. That allowed Brown to
lift most stipulations of an emergency order he implemented in January
2014, about two years after the conditions crossed the line into
drought.
Brown also said the need for conservation continued. Officials will
still require some long-term water-use limits imposed last year and are
developing water preservation standards for urban agencies.
"This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around
the corner," Brown said in a statement. "Conservation must remain a way
of life."
The drought cost the agricultural economy billions, killed an estimated
100 million trees, led a half-million acres of farmland to be fallowed
and deprived some communities of reliable sources of drinking water.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Apr/08/images/ads/current/hartsburggrain_daily_sda_021115.png)
In April 2015, when the state's snowpack hit its lowest since 1950 at 5
percent of its historic average, Brown stood on a dry mountain that was
normally blanketed in snow at that time of year and ordered urban areas
to reduce water use by 25 percent. As of last week, the snowpack stood
at 150 percent of normal.
The 2015 order led environmentalists to complain that the state, which
leads the nation in production of fruits and vegetables, did too little
to force farmers to conserve water. For their part, farmers said they
received far less water than promised by state and federal authorities.
On Friday, the Democratic governor lifted the drought declaration in all
counties except four, mostly in the state's agricultural Central Valley.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/040817pics/news_a1.jpg)
California Governor Jerry Brown speaks in Los Angeles, California,
United States, April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Apr/08/images/ads/current/centerforyouth_lda2_COUNSELING_2017.png)
"It's worth taking a moment to be grateful for all the rain and snow
out there," Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources
Control Board, told reporters on a conference call after the
governor's announcement.
California officials have credited residents for doing their part to
conserve water by taking shorter showers and ripping out grass lawns
to install landscaping that requires minimal irrigation, among other
measures.
Even though the drought is officially over, groundwater supplies
remain below normal, the Natural Resources Defense Council cautioned
in a statement.
"Year after year, California continues to use more water than is
made available by nature," Kate Poole, director of the group's water
and wildlife project, said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Frank McGurty
and Andrew Hay)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Apr/08/images/ads/current/stacy_sda_101816.png)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/ldn_medical_directory_small_2016.png) |