When California Governor Jerry Brown declared that emergency drought regulations were going into effect in April of 2015, ordering residents to cut water use by 25 percent, the Sierra snow pack was at just 5 percent of normal. Now, nearly two years later, aided by strong storms in January, the snow pack is at 182 percent of normal, and some agencies, including the San Diego County Water Authority, have declared the drought over.
But even with the rain and snow, and a vastly improved drought condition across the state, the California State Water Resources Control Board is considering a staff recommendation to extend the emergency drought regulations for the rest of 2017.
The 25 percent mandatory cutbacks have not been used since the middle of last year, but the threat of rations has been in place since the Governor's actions in early 2015. An extension of the emergency controls would mean that California could revert to cutbacks at any time in 2017 if the weather trend does not continue.
Jeff Stephenson, the Principal Water Resources Specialist for the County Water Authority, will be testifying before the State Water Board at their 1:00 PM meeting Wednesday afternoon, saying "water agencies can lose credibility with customers if we're telling them we're in a drought, and it's raining like crazy outside and snowing in Northern California. So there is a credibility issue that we feel as water agencies we need to deliver an accurate message as to what supply conditions are".
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