For nine out of the last 13 years, California was in a state of drought. The five-year drought from 2012 and 2016 is one of the top five most severe droughts California experienced in the last 120 years. Many wells went dry during this period; farmers fallowed land; some rural communities had no running water; and trees died in mass in the Sierra.

Against this backdrop, Governor Jerry Brown issued a record number of executive orders and emergency proclamations regarding drought and water conservation during this period.