California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide drought emergency Tuesday, appealing to all Californians to do more to conserve water in the face of one of the state's most severe droughts on record.
"As the western U.S. faces a potential third year of drought, it's critical that Californians across the state redouble our efforts to save water in every way possible," Newsom said.
While most of California's 58 counties have been in a state of drought emergency since July, Newsom's proclamation added the last eight remaining counties, and further bolstered his call for everyone to voluntarily reduce water use by 15 per cent.
The proclamation notes that the State Water Resources Control Board may adopt emergency regulations to prohibit wasting water, such as by hosing down sidewalks or driveways, allowing drinking water to flood gutters or streets, or washing a car without a shut-off nozzle.
The declaration comes as state water officials announced Tuesday that Californians had cut their water usage by 5 per cent in August, a modest improvement over July, when the state cut usage by 1.8 per cent.
The proclamation orders local water suppliers to implement their water shortage contingency plans at "a level appropriate to local conditions that takes into account the possibility of a third consecutive dry year."
The eight counties added to the emergency declaration include Los Angeles and Orange counties, as well as the rest of Southern California, and San Francisco.
A series of storms are forecast to bring rain and high-elevation snow to northern and central parts of California in late October. But these storms alone won't be nearly enough to pull the state out of drought.
