California imposes mandatory water restrictions amid extreme drought

Dry, cracked earth in the Sierra Nevada foothills
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Faced with one of the worst droughts in California history, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Wednesday announced the state's first ever mandatory water restrictions.

With 98 percent of the state suffering from the drought — including two-thirds experiencing "extreme" drought conditions — the executive order would slash water usage by 25 percent statewide for a projected savings of 1.5 million acre-feet of water over the next nine months. The move comes one day after the state's Department of Water Resources announced California had its lowest snowpack since 1950, when record-keeping began.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.