California Governor Jerry Brown, right, looks on as Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources, as he gestures to the average level recorded during snow surveys on April 1, 2015 in Phillips, California. The level is zero, the lowest in recorded history for California. Gov. Brown went on to announce mandatory statewide water restrictions. (Photo by Max Whittaker/Getty Images)
California Governor Jerry Brown announced mandatory water restrictions for the first time in the state’s history. The dramatic order comes in response to an ever deepening drought crisis now in its fourth year.
Gov. Brown held his press conference in an open field in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The field would normally be covered in snow this time of year, but is now dry grass. The snowpack this year is the lowest in 60 years.
Brown explained that the drought could persist and Californians must change their water habits. Cities and towns across the state are being ordered to cut their water consumption by 25%.
“We’re standing on dry grass. We should be standing on five feet of snow.”
“It’s a different world,” he said. “We have to act differently.” – California Gov Jerry Brown, as reported by the Los Angeles Times
Originally Published on Breaking Energy, April 3 2015.
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