On Jan. 17, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a State of Emergency as California experienced its driest year on record in 2013.
Gov. Brown recommends that we “cut back our water usage by 20 percent ” statewide.” He asked residents to do so “voluntarily” as it is not an official state requirement.
In comparison, some cities are making water conservation mandatory. On Tuesday Jan. 21, the town of Healdsburg in Sonoma County approved mandatory water conservation measures. If they do not adhere to the measures residents of the city could be fined.
San Francisco does not seem to have a similar plan. Mayor Ed Lee mentioned the drought in his his recent “State of the City” address. He promoted “green technology infrastructure” as a solution to this problem, but did not present any mandatory conservation strategies.
California’s Central Valley, where the majority of the state’s food is produced, has been feeling the effects of the drought for sometime now.
Farmers have not been able to fully utilize their plots due to the drought, which does not only decrease food production but also has led to layoffs. In Kern Valley alone, 6,400 seasonal workers were laid-off, adjusting the unemployment rate in the region to 10.7 percent.
Bryan Walsh, senior editor of Time Magazine, interviewed professor B. Lynn Ingram of the University of California, Berkeley, to find scientific facts on the situation.
“The 20th century was unusually mild here, in the sense that the droughts weren’t as severe as in the past. It was a wetter century, and a lot of our development has been based on that ”said Lynn, adding that California hasn’t been this dry since 1580.
Fortunately, conserving water in preparation for water shortages in California is easy to do.
Following these easy procedures, you can do your part:
1) Take shorter showers. The average shower uses seven gallons of water per minute.
2) Close the faucet when brushing your teeth. The average faucet consumes three gallons per minute. Use a cup to rinse your mouth rather than leaving the tap open.
3) Flush the toilet only when needed. Every time you flush you use six gallons of water.
4) Don’t run the faucet when washing dishes. Turn it on only to rinse your dishes.
If you would like to find out more ways you can help the effort please visit: wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/
You can sign a petition urging Mayor Ed Lee for stricter conservation mandates at: www.causes.com/actions/1765848-a-petition-to-edwin-lee- san-francisco-mayor