Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Cheers and Jeers ... Stouts fire still growing, but in a good way ... Man suspected of sexually abusing child ... Our View: Cheers and Jeers ... Stouts fire still growing, but in a good way ... Man suspected of sexually abusing child ... EXTREME DROUGHT Governor orders mandatory water restrictions in California Comment By Matt Stevens and Chris Megerian Los Angeles Times MailTribune.com By Matt Stevens and Chris Megerian Los Angeles Times Posted Apr. 1, 2015 at 4:17 PM Updated Apr 1, 2015 at 5:09 PM By Matt Stevens and Chris Megerian Los Angeles Times Posted Apr. 1, 2015 at 4:17 PM Updated Apr 1, 2015 at 5:09 PM » Social News LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — California Gov. Jerry Brown, standing on a patch of brown grass in the Sierra Nevada that is usually covered with several feet of snow, on Wednesday announced the first mandatory water restrictions in California history. "It's a different world," he said. "We have to act differently." Brown was on hand Wednesday as state officials took stock of historically abysmal levels of snowpack in the Sierra Nevada amid the state's grinding drought. Brown ordered the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory restrictions to reduce water usage by 25 percent. The water savings are expected to amount to 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months. Brown's plan would also: Require golf courses, cemeteries and other large landscaped spaces to reduce water consumption. Replace 50 million square feet of lawn statewide with drought-tolerant landscaping as part of a partnership with local governments. Create statewide rebate program to replace old appliance with more water- and energy-efficient ones. Require new homes to have water-efficient drip irrigation if developers want to use potable water for irrigation. Ban the water of ornamental grass on public street medians. Call on water agencies to implement new pricing models that discourage excessive water use. "It is such an unprecedented lack of snow," said Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Survey Program. He's been attending the snowpack measurements since 1987 and said he had never before seen the ground barren of snow on April 1. "It's way below the records." It's another foreboding sign for a state languishing in drought, as the wet season winds to a close. Electronic readings on Wednesday at about 100 stations across the Sierra showed that the water content of the snow was only about 5 percent of the state average for April 1, the day on which snowpack is normally considered at its peak. Official manual readings will be announced Wednesday afternoon. Early data show the snowpack is lower than any year since 1950, when record-keeping began. Never before has the amount of water in the snow on April 1 dipped lower than 25 percent of the historical average for that day. Snowpack accounts for about 30 percent of the state's water supply, and other sources, including reservoirs and rainfall totals, have recently improved. Still, officials from the Department of Water Resources say the state of the snowpack, which melts and replenishes California's reservoirs, means there will be virtually no runoff this spring or summer when the rain stops and temperatures rise. "This is sort of unchartered territory," said department spokesman Doug Carlson, calling the situation "dismal." Wednesday's reading will be state water officials' fourth manual snow survey this year at Phillips Station, about 90 miles east of Sacramento. Carlson said he visited the area a few days ago. "I can tell you what the reading will be tomorrow: Zero, as in Sierra Nada," he said. The station traditionally averages more than 60 inches of snow on April 1, he said. The snow levels in the Sierra have declined each month since manual surveying began on Dec. 30. That initial electronic reading showed that the snow's water content was 50 percent of normal for the date. A month later, the water content was down to 25 percent of average, and in March, it was only 19 percent. "It does leave questions about where the water will come from," Carlson said. "Will there be enough of it? It will probably have to come from groundwater again ... and that brings in a whole other set of problems and complications since the groundwater seems to be over-tapped." Relatively meager rainfall, combined with unusually warm weather has kept snowfall limited, officials said. At the eight stations in the northern Sierra where the Department of Water Resources measures precipitation, about 32 inches of rain — 76 percent of average — have fallen since the water year began in October. Sacramento has seen temperatures as much as six degrees above normal each month for the past 15 months, a National Weather Service spokesman said. The rest of the state's water picture, though, doesn't look as dreary. Major storms that hit California in December and February were warm, and fell as rain rather than snow. Though precipitation is below the state's historical average, the northern Sierra stations have already gotten more rain since October than during all of the 2013-14 water year, which lasts from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. That rain has helped refill the state's reservoirs. As of Monday, Lake Oroville — the keystone reservoir of the California State Water Project, which delivers water from Northern California to the south — was at 51 percent of its capacity, compared with 49 percent a year ago. Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, had about 150 billion gallons more water in it Monday than it did a year ago. By Matt Stevens and Chris Megerian Los Angeles Times MailTribune.com By Matt Stevens and Chris Megerian Los Angeles Times Posted Apr. 1, 2015 at 4:17 PM Updated Apr 1, 2015 at 5:09 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501