First California Mandatory Water Restrictions.

Because California needs larger regulatory code books, California Governor Jerry Brown has required mandatory water restrictions.  

California has experienced drought, but this year’s lack of snow pack in the Sierra’s has greatly diminished California’s hope for recovering from the drought.   For the first time since 1942 a Governor attented the measuring of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Snow Pack. 

The Water Restrictions via L.A. Times:

•  Reduce water usage by 25%

• 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 a statewide rebate program to replace old appliances with more water- and energy-efficient ones.

• Require new homes to have water-efficient drip irrigation if developers want to use potable water for landscaping.

• -Ban the watering of ornamental grass on public street medians.

• Call on water agencies to implement new pricing models that discourage excessive water use.

• Require agricultural to report more water usage information to the state so that regulators can better find waste and improper activities.

• Create a mechanism to enforce requirements that water districts report usage numbers to the state.

WallStreet Journal Courthouse News Service