California Gov. Jerry Brown issues mandatory water restrictions
By Ray Sanchez, CNN
Updated 4:59 PM ET, Wed April 1, 2015

(CNN)—California Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday imposed mandatory water restrictions for the first time on residents, businesses and farms, ordering cities and towns in the drought-ravaged state to reduce usage by 25%.

"This historic drought demands unprecedented action," Brown told reporters, standing on a patch of dry, brown grass in the Sierra Nevada mountains that is usually blanketed by up to 5 feet of snow.

The 25% cut in usage amounts to roughly 1.5 million acre-feet of water (an acre-foot of water equals about 325,000 gallons) over the next nine months, state officials said.

"We're in a new era," Brown said. "The idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day, that's going to be a thing of the past."

The actions comes as the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which Californians rely on heavily during the summer for their water needs, is near record low.


A new way of managing a precious resource

In addition, Brown's executive order will:

-- Impose significant cuts in water use on campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscapes.

-- Replace 50 million square feet of lawns throughout the state with "drought tolerant landscaping."

-- Create a temporary, statewide consumer rebate program to replace old appliances with water efficient models.

-- Prohibit new homes and developments from irrigating with potable water unless water-efficient drip irrigation systems are used.

-- Ban watering of ornamental grass on public street medians.

-- Require agricultural water users to report more water use information to state regulators, increasing the state's ability to enforce against illegal diversions and waste.

"It's a different world," Brown said Wednesday. "We have to act differently."

A staggering 11 trillion gallons are needed for California to recover from the emergency.

The entire state of California faces at least a moderate drought and more than half of the state faces the worst category of dryness, called an exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

California isn't the only state feeling an absence of rain. As of late September, 30% of the Lower 48 faced at least a moderate drought, particularly in the Southwest states neighboring California and in Texas, the Drought Monitor says.

But none of those states is facing the extremes of California, where the drought has been a slowly building natural disaster since 2012.

In fact, Brown last year declared a state emergency, saying his constituents are facing "perhaps the worst drought that California has ever seen since records (began) about 100 years ago."

What's been done so far

On September 16, Brown signed "historic legislation" that created "a framework for sustainable, local groundwater management for the first time in California history," the governor's office said. Before the new legislation, California was the only Western state that didn't manage its groundwater, officials said.

Last month, Brown last unveiled an emergency $1 billion spending plan to tackle the state's historic drought.

According to the California State Water Resources Control Board, the package will specifically accelerate $128 million from the governor's budget to provide direct assistance to workers and affected communities.

Proposition 1 funding, which enacted the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, will funnel $272 million into safe drinking water efforts and maintenance of water recycling infrastructure. Some $660 million from Prop 1 will also be accelerated for flood protection in urban and rural areas.

As part of the changes, Brown said additional measures will crack down on water inefficiency as California enters the fourth year of a worsening water crisis.

The March snowpack measurement came in at 0.9 inches of water content in the snow, just 5% of the March 3 historical average for the measurement site.

The overall water content for the Northern Sierra snowpack came in at 4.4 inches, just 16% of average for the date. Central and southern Sierra readings were 5.5 inches (20% of average) and 5 inches (22% of average) respectively.

Only in 1991 has the water content of the snow been lower.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/us/califo ... index.html?

And so it begins...

I couldn't have said it better, Oskar.

There is a good chance we will be seeing more of this.

More than a good chance.
It's guaranteed to happen over and over and in different locations.
But hey, as long as the 1% are A-OK, all is well, right?

In case they're getting ideas out there - FYI, the Great Lakes water flows to the east.

Doesn't matter. The US has already made several "requests" to divert water from the Great Lakes. So far, they've been turned down.
The day will come, in the not too distant future, when the US won't ask but will simply take.
That's when it'll hit the fan.

Not gonna happen.

Totally out of character if it didn't. Water will be far more precious than oil and look at wht the US has done in the name of oil.

I was speaking of this happening in places across the world, but you're right; There is more than just a good chance of it happening.

As far as the 1%, why do think God created bottled water?

But then there's the floods to consider ....

This might be a naïve question and it will not "cure" the current crisis, but wouldn't it make sense for California [with its long coastline on the Pacific Ocean] to be focusing/investing in ways to desalinize some of that water?

Sooz

Desalination is very expensive and, with rising oceans, the facilities would eventually be under water... unless the water gets pumped miles inland.

Just came across my Facebook feed ~


The accompanying text says:


Sooz

I see Texas is facing the same problem. They'll pump the Rio dry, the Mexicans will just walk across and they will start calling them "drybacks".

I'd like to know what took them so long to do the water restriction thing. We've been doing it for years here in Nevada.

The difference is that we are now voluntarily creating deserts.

This will effect all of us in N. America. Too bad this article only focused on the US, because we here in Western Canada also depend on produce from California a lot. I know that I really didn't think about the broader impact. The good news is that we can drink our worries away. See final few paragraphs...


How historic California drought affects rest of nation, often for the worse


Los Angeles (CNN)—It's more than just one state's internal problem. The historic California drought hurts the rest of the union, too.

That's because California is a breadbasket to the nation, growing more than a third of its vegetables and nearly two-thirds of its fruits and nuts.

Here's why we should heed the ongoing drought in the most populous state, a slowly expanding natural disaster now in its fourth year that this week prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to announce a mandatory 25% cutback in water consumption in all cities.

It's already hit your pocketbook


In 2014, one expert predicted consumers would pay more for some groceries because of the California drought.

He was often right, according to statistics gathered by Timothy Richards, agribusiness professor at Arizona State University.

Prices rose last year for these items on your kitchen table:

• Berries rose in price by about 80 cents per clamshell to $3.88

• Broccoli by 11 cents per pound to $1.89.

• Grapes by 64 cents a pound to $3.06

• Melons by 24 cents a pound to $1.23.

• Packaged salad by 23 cents a bag to $2.91.

• Peppers by 26 cents a pound to $2.39.


Uncertainty ahead


Though fruits and vegetable prices fell in February, overall prices are expected to rise this year, because of inflation, U.S. Department of Agriculture economist Annemarie Kuhns said.

Fresh fruit prices are projected to rise between 2.5% and 3.5%, and vegetables between 2% and 3%, close to historical average increases, Kuhns said.

Whether the California drought will affect food prices again this year is unknown, thanks to a strong dollar.

The greenback's strength allows producers to import crops that may be withering under the absence of West Coast rain or other misfortunes elsewhere in the nation, Kuhns said.
Moreover, the drop in oil prices also eases the cost of transporting food from California to the other 49 states, she said.

What economists don't know yet is whether farmers will plant fewer crops because of the drought. Those decisions are now being made in the field and could boost supermarket prices, she said.

"The drought in California does have the potential to impact the price we pay for fresh fruit and fresh vegetables and dairy and fresh eggs we pay at the counter," Kuhns said. "We are not sure what the exact impact will be."

Part of a bigger disaster


The reality is there's a major drought throughout the West and Southwest.

While not as bad as California, Texas and Oklahoma are also seeing extreme and exceptional drought -- the two worst categories -- in several parts of their states, the U.S. Drought Monitor said this week.

Overall, the Western drought affects more than 52 million people, the monitor says.

As a result, consumers paid a whopping extra 12.1% for beef and veal in 2014, the USDA reports.
Straining under a drought that began in 2012, ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma last year saw smaller grazing pastures, paid more for feed, and experienced difficulties accessing water to cool their cattle.

So the cattlemen began culling their herds, Kuhns said.

This year's beef and veal prices should rise only by 6% at most, still higher than the 4.1% historical average, the feds project.

But beef prices offer an object lesson about the drought.

"There's other areas being affected," Kuhns said.


'Waiter! Water, please!'


It's called the Golden State for the gold rush of yore, but let's face it: the rest of the nation flocks to California for vacation because of another golden reason.

Its year-round sunshine.

So the next time you take a holiday in California, you'll find a few changes around here, thanks to the drought.

Like asking for a glass of water at a restaurant.

You won't find water waiting for you on the table.

Eateries now "can only serve water to customers on request," the State Water Resources Control Board declared in March under expanded emergency regulations.

Tourists can also expect to hear a lot of requests at hotels about whether they want their linens and towels laundered daily. These requests are mandatory under the new regulations.

And they'll see fewer homes running decorative fountains.

Because much of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada has alarmingly disappeared, many ski resorts shut down early this year, including at Lake Tahoe, and some are now building zip lines, mountain bike trails and wedding venues to keep tourists coming, the Sacramento Bee reported.

"If the drought continues through next winter and we do not conserve more, the consequences could be even more catastrophic than they already are," State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus said in March.

But what about those yummy California wines, you ask?

Guess what.

They're only getting better -- because of the drought.

Yes, you read that right.

The 2014 wine grape harvest was "third in a string of great vintages this decade," the Wine Institute says.

"California vintners and growers across the state are grateful for another excellent vintage, despite an ongoing drought and earthquake that rocked south Napa in late August just as crush was getting underway," the institute said in a statement last year. "A mild winter and spring caused early bud break, although the overall length of the growing season was similar to past years."

Wine grapes use relatively low water, said institute spokeswoman Gladys Horiuchi.

"Yes, drought years tend to produce terrific quality," she added. "With the record high California wine grape harvests in 2012, 2013 and 2014, there is a good supply of California wine."

That may be the only thing to toast about this drought.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/03/us/califo ... Stories%29

Food prices are the least of the problems.
Wait until there are food shortages such that there won't be any food no matter how much one offers to pay.

I forgot to post this article. Not just for the food banks either and the benefit to the communities goes beyond food.

Calgary Food Bank to benefit from 'freestyle' gardening

You've likely heard of guerilla gardening, but there is a movement of freestyle gardeners in Calgary.

​Unlike guerilla gardeners, "freestylers" get permission to grow produce in people's backyards and on vacant plots of land.

"Communities that are not necessarily well-off or have a lot of problems with vandalism — if we implement these gardens and give the community a sense of pride in them, these problems are going to desist," said Calgary Freestyle Gardening co-founder Kate Pugatschew.

Pugatschew says the group would like to start with two main plots in the north and south ends of the city, but are hoping to expand as the movement gains popularity.

She says freestyle gardening is also different than community gardening because it's volunteer-driven and growers don't pay to garden.

"Anybody can come in and weed it and pick the fruit and vegetables," said Pugatschew.

What is not harvested by the public will be donated to the Calgary Food Bank and other non-profit or community groups.

"We're a Prairie province, we're known for our wide open space. But a lot of that is not being utilized," she said.

The first freestyle gardening location will be at the Grow Calgary acreage near Canada Olympic Park. The group is still looking for volunteers.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/c ... -1.3018317