With the snow fall for California being at a record low this year, California faces one of the most severe droughts in history. In January, Governor Edmund Brown declared a drought State of Emergency, and directed officials to make necessary preparations to prepare for the water shortages.

State Water Board Chair, Felicia Marcus, states in a recent announcement, “Today’s announced February results are very disturbing

 and provides even more support for the Governor’s call for an immediate 25 percent mandatory reduction in urban water use statewide. I know many communities in the state stepped up since last summer and dramatically conserved water. But not enough communities in the state have saved enough water. Beginning today, to assure their own water security as well as help others, communities should restrict outdoor irrigation to the bare minimum. If we dramatically stop watering out-of-doors, we should be able to reduce water use by 25 percent or more in the next several months since an average of 50 percent of urban water use is used outdoors.”

According to CA.gov, on April 1, an Executive Order was issued by Governor Brown, mandating the 25 percent reduction in water use for urban water users. A sliding scale will be used, where the districts with a greater reduction will be able to use a greater percentage of water, compared to those who have reduced water use. This will confront the problem of certain urban area’s lack of conservation.

The State Water Board is using an expanded emergency conservation regulation in order to save the state’s remaining water 
supplies. The state hopes that the measures that are being taken will help aid the occupants in the fourth consecutive dry year.