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Did California Learn Anything From the Last Drought? ‘Gambling’ With Water Continues

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Hayley Smith

The governor of California stood in a patch of dry brown grass as he made his proclamation:

“We’re in a new era. The idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day — that’s going to be a thing of the past,” he said. “We’re in a historic drought, and that demands unprecedented action.”

But it wasn’t Gavin Newsom speaking — it was the state’s previous governor, Jerry Brown, and the year was 2015.

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Newsom Calls for More Aggressive Water Conservation Amid Third Year of Drought

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Hayley Smith and Jonah Valdez

On the heels of the driest ever start to the year in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday issued a sweeping executive order calling on local water suppliers to implement more aggressive conservation measures as reservoirs dwindle and residents backslide in their efforts to cut back.

Specifically, the order requires that urban water suppliers activate “Level 2″ of their locally customized contingency plans, meaning they must prepare for a shortage of up to 20%.

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A Frenzy of Well Drilling by California Farmers Leaves Taps Running Dry

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Maria L. La Ganga, Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee and Ian James/Photography by Irfan Khan

Vicki McDowell woke up on a Saturday morning in May, thinking about what she would make her son for breakfast. He was visiting from Hayward, and she wanted to whip up something special. Biscuits and gravy. Fried potatoes. Eggs.

She walked to the kitchen sink to wash her hands. Turned on the faucet. Nothing happened. Worried, she tried the bathroom sink. Still nothing. She flushed the toilet. It gurgled.

In the verdant San Joaquin Valley, one of the nation’s most productive farming regions, domestic wells like McDowell’s are drying up at an alarming pace as a frenzy of new well construction and heavy agricultural pumping sends the underground water supply to new lows during one of the most severe droughts on record.

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