AgdaPkt 2014-08-25 Closed and Joint with SA and Planning Amended

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8.B. - Page 10 STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD RESOLUTION NO. 2014-0038 TO ADOPT AN EMERGENCY REGULATION FOR STATEWIDE URBAN WATER CONSERVATION WHEREAS: 1. On April 25, 2014, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued an executive order to strengthen the state's ability to manage water and habitat effectively in drought conditions and called on all Californians to redouble their efforts to conserve water. The executive order finds that the continuous severe drought conditions present urgent challenges across the state including water shortages in communities and for agricultural production, increased wildfires, degraded habitat for fish and wildlife, threat of saltwater contamination, and additional water scarcity if drought conditions continue into 2015. The National Integrated Drought Information System reported that nearly 80% of the state was reported to be under"extreme" drought conditions at the end of June; 2. The executive order refers to the Governor's Proclamation No. 1-17-2014, issued on January '17, 2014, declaring a State of Emergency to exist in California due to severe drought conditions. The January Proclamation notes that the state is experiencing record dry conditions, with 2014 projected to become the driest year on record. Since January, state water officials indicate that reservoirs, rainfall totals and the snowpack remain critically low. This follows two other dry or below average years, leaving reservoir storage at alarmingly low levels. The January Proclamation highlights the State's dry conditions, lack of precipitation and the resulting effects on drinking water supplies, the cultivation of crops, and the survival of animals and plants that rely on California's rivers and streams. The January Proclamation also calls on all Californians to reduce their water usage by 20 percent; 3. There is no guarantee that winter precipitation will alleviate the drought conditions that the executive orders address, which will lead to even more severe impacts across the state if the drought wears on; 4. Water Code section 1058.5 grants the State Water Board the authority to adopt emergency regulations in certain drought years in order to: "prevent the waste, unreasonable use, unreasonable method of use, or unreasonable method of diversion, of water, to promote water recycling or water conservation, to require curtailment of diversions when water is not available under the diverter's priority of right, or in furtherance of any of the foregoing, to require reporting of diversion or use or the preparation of monitoring reports"; 5. Over 400,000 acres of farmland are expected to be fallowed, thousands of people may be out of work, communities risk running out of drinking water, and fish and wildlife will suffer.