Gov. Brown announces water-saving measures to fight drought

California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced on April 1 the selection of an executive order to help the state, which has already faced two years of drought, in order to conserve water by creating new regulations targeted at accomplishing several goals.

The order’s measures, which are categorized as saving water, increasing enforcement, streamlining government response and investing in new technologies, are intended to mitigate the effect of the drought in the face of the lowest recorded snowpack ever.

"This historic drought demands unprecedented action," Brown said. “Therefore, I’m issuing an executive order mandating substantial water reductions across our state. As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible.”

Brown declared a drought state of emergency in 2014, and state experts have been working for over two years to ensure there is enough water for human health and safety, agriculture, fire fighting and fish and wildlife protection.

Some of the new measures in the executive order include the first-ever mandatory water reductions, to cut consumption by 25 percent, a call for local water agencies to implement conservation pricing and prioritization of reviewing and decision-making on water infrastructure projects throughout the state, among many others.