Governor Brown's Drought Order Lets Corporate Agribusiness, Oil Companies Off The Hook

By Dan Bacher | April 2, 2015 | This is a four part story by Dan Bacher on the effects of Gov. Jerry Brown's announcement yeste...


By Dan Bacher | April 2, 2015 |

This is a four part story by Dan Bacher on the effects of Gov. Jerry Brown's announcement yesterday. 

Governor Jerry Brown on April 1 issued an executive order that he claimed will "save water," increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the state's drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more "drought resilient." 

The order follows the lowest Sierra Nevada snowpack ever recorded in California history, only 5 percent of the historic average, with no end to the drought in sight. 

Critics of the Governor’s water policies quickly responded that Brown’s order lets corporate agribusiness interests, the biggest users of the state's water, and big oil companies off the hook.

“Today we are standing on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow. This historic drought demands unprecedented action,” said Governor Brown. “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.”  

For the first time in state history, Brown directed the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory water reductions in cities and towns across California to reduce water usage by 25 percent. "This savings amounts to approximately 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months, or nearly as much as is currently in Lake Oroville," according to the Governor's Office.

His executive order also features "increased enforcent actions," including calls on local water agencies to adjust their rate structures to implement conservation pricing, recognized as an effective way to realize water reductions and discourage water waste. 

In addition, the order called for "streamlining government response to the drought," including prioritizing state review and decision-making of water infrastructure projects and requiring state agencies to report to the Governor's Office on any application pending for more than 90 days.

To read the full press release and executive order http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18910  


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2 comments

Anonymous said...

..


The city keeps on approving new homes.

Real smart forward thinking there.

Where is the water going to come from? Sure isn't coming from thin air.

We won't even have enough water to flush our toilets.


Continued drought, one of the worst in over 500 years and they want to allow more new home construction which will lead to even more high density Low Income Housing Projects?



.

Anonymous said...

California drought: 'May have to migrate people'

"If the state continues on this path, there may have to be thoughts about moving people out, said Lynn Wilson, academic chair at Kaplan University and who serves on the climate change delegation in the United Nations.

"Civilizations in the past have had to migrate out of areas of drought," Wilson said. "We may have to migrate people out of California."


http://www.cnbc.com/id/101884085

So why do they want to allow more houses to be built?

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