After two years that have left reservoirs parched, Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Friday morning. Brown's State of Emergency declaration also comes on the heels of the Obama administration marking 27 California counties as "natural disaster areas," making emergency federal loans available for farmers. What does this mean for you? It means that your water-conversation prowess needs to come into play starting yesterday.
“We can’t make it rain, but we can be much better prepared for the terrible consequences that California’s drought now threatens, including dramatically less water for our farms and communities and increased fires in both urban and rural areas,” said Governor Brown. “I’ve declared this emergency and I’m calling all Californians to conserve water in every way possible.”
California's record-breaking dry weather will last for at least the next three months. Oakland Tribune has more:
Computer models based on data from satellites, buoys in the Pacific Ocean and other sources favor below-normal levels of rainfall for California, much of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas until April, according to a new report from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center."There will be a few precipitation events, but we're looking at drier-than-normal conditions in February, March and April," said Matthew Rosencrans, a meteorologist with the agency, which is based in College Park, Md. "Right now we are saying the odds do not indicate a Miracle March, which is not a good thing."
Over the year, you'll be asked to reserve what little water we have left. Big time. Here are some ways to converse water indoors and outdoors.