Post by Logan on Feb 3, 2016 8:07:05 GMT -6
State refuses pleas for major weakening of water conservation rules
SACRAMENTO -- Nine months after California imposed its first-ever mandatory statewide water conservation rules to cope with the state's historic drought, dozens of leaders of water agencies on Tuesday pleaded with the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown to relax them.
Their argument: It's raining, reservoirs are filling, customers are mad -- and selling less water is costing them hundreds of millions of dollars.
But rather than making major changes, the State Water Resources Control Board voted instead for modest adjustments after a six-hour meeting. The rules will shave a few percentage points off the conservation requirements of some places -- particularly in hot areas like the Southern California desert and the Central Valley -- while leaving drought rules unchanged in most Bay Area cities, Los Angeles and San Diego through at least May.
"We are just at halftime in this rainy season," said Felicia Marcus, the board's chairwoman. "A lot could change."
Read more: www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_29464695/california-drought-state-cut-water-use-18-3
SACRAMENTO -- Nine months after California imposed its first-ever mandatory statewide water conservation rules to cope with the state's historic drought, dozens of leaders of water agencies on Tuesday pleaded with the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown to relax them.
Their argument: It's raining, reservoirs are filling, customers are mad -- and selling less water is costing them hundreds of millions of dollars.
But rather than making major changes, the State Water Resources Control Board voted instead for modest adjustments after a six-hour meeting. The rules will shave a few percentage points off the conservation requirements of some places -- particularly in hot areas like the Southern California desert and the Central Valley -- while leaving drought rules unchanged in most Bay Area cities, Los Angeles and San Diego through at least May.
"We are just at halftime in this rainy season," said Felicia Marcus, the board's chairwoman. "A lot could change."
Read more: www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_29464695/california-drought-state-cut-water-use-18-3