Schwarzenegger makes it official: California is in a drought

Posted by Sierra Nevada Alliance Weekly

June 5, 2008

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared Wednesday that California is in a drought, a move that included no immediate conservation orders but may lead to more aggressive water-saving efforts in many parts of the state.

Water experts said the declaration could wake up water consumers who have been complacent and lead to significant conservation.

"What you will see up and down the state is water agencies pushing much harder on their customers to cut down on water use," said Laura King-Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors. "The era of polite requests for 10 percent water cuts is over."

On Wednesday critics quickly hit the declaration as appearing more symbolic than substantive. An accompanying executive order contains directives to the Department of Water Resources that mostly give new thrust to existing programs.

The governor's drought declaration is the first since 1991.

While California has experienced many droughts, it has never established rules to formally declare one.

Just last month, state officials would not use "drought" to define the ongoing water shortage.

Wednesday's declaration, the governor said, was based on mounting social and economic effects from a second dry year.

"There are businesses right now that are suffering," Schwarzenegger said. "We are really holding back our economic growth."

The current shortage is driven both by persistent dry weather and legal actions to protect endangered species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the water source for about 25 million people. Both major rivers feeding the Delta are considered "critically" dry this year.

The northern Sierra Nevada, stronghold for much of the state's snowpack, experienced the driest spring in more than 70 years. The city of Sacramento saw the driest spring since record-keeping began in 1849.

Read the full article in the Sac Bee.