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After years of drought, winter’s rain- and snowstorms generated close to a normal supply of water for California. As winter turned to spring, the Bureau of Reclamation announced allocations to farmers.

Rice growers and other farmers in the Sacramento Valley north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were pleased to learn that they would receive 100 percent of their contracted water supplies. However, it was bad news for farmers south of the Delta, who were told they would get, at most, just 5 percent of the water they expected this year.

 

Governor Jerry Brown of California announced new changes to the state’s water-use policies Monday, extending some of the regulations the government had adopted to cope with the state’s ongoing, five-year drought and easing restrictions for those districts seeing more regular rainfall.

The changes include a ban on hosing down driveways or washing cars with hoses that lack a shut-off nozzle, and watering lawns within two days of a rainstorm. They also include reduced restrictions regarding mandatory water rationing.

On Monday, two separate groups called for a state audit on the California Water Fix, better known as the Delta Twin Tunnels proposal.

Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) and Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) announced they will request a state audit on the project, citing a need for a higher level of scrutiny for the project, according to a press release sent by Eggman’s office.

California’s historic drought rules are going to be a whole lot looser this summer. In a major shift, the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday plans to drop all statewide mandatory water conservation targets it had imposed on urban areas last June. The new rules, which are expected to be approved May 18 by the State Water Resources Control Board, would instead allow more than 400 cities, water districts and private companies to each set their own water conservation targets, as long as they report them to state officials.

With California entering its fifth year of a statewide drought, Gov. Jerry Brown moved on Monday to impose permanent water conservation measures and called on water suppliers to prepare for a future made drier by climate change.

Under the governor’s executive order, emergency drought regulations, like bans on hosing down driveways or watering lawns within 48 hours of a rainstorm, will remain indefinitely. Urban water suppliers will be required to report their water use to the state each month and develop plans to get through long-term periods of drought.