Governor Brown declares drought State of Emergency; Feinstein, Boxer and Costa call for federal drought task force

Jerry BrownAfter weeks of speculation and at the urging of legislators, Governor Brown has finally declared a drought State of Emergency.

“We can’t make it rain, but we can be much better prepared for the terrible consequences that California’s drought now threatens, including dramatically less water for our farms and communities and increased fires in both urban and rural areas,” said Governor Brown. “I’ve declared this emergency and I’m calling all Californians to conserve water in every way possible.”

The announcement came at a press conference in San Francisco and follows a series of actions the administration has taken to prepare for drought, including issuing an Executive Order last May to direct state water officials to expedite the review and processing of voluntary transfers of water and water rights, and convening a Drought Task Force in December.

Yesterday, members of the California Democratic delegation wrote a letter to Governor Brown, urging for the declaration, noting that the House had just passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 reauthorizing the Bureau of Reclamation’s Emergency Drought Relief Act program, but the authorities provided for in the Act cannot be exercised until the Governor issues the declaration.  Those authorities provided to the Reclamation will help minimize or mitigate drought damages and losses, and include measures such as construction of temporary facilities, drilling of wells, facilitating water transfers, and issuing contracts to move non-project water on project facilities.

In other drought actions, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer, and Congressman Jim Costa are calling on President Obama to form a federal drought task force to coordinate a cross-agency response to the state’s looming water crisis.  California’s precarious water situation cannot be overstated, they say, and the ongoing dry conditions call for immediate, measurable actions from federal agencies.

“We have ahead of us an incredible challenge that will require the highest levels of engagement and flexibility on the part of federal and state water and regulatory agencies in order to avoid devastating socioeconomic and environmental impacts to many regions of California, particularly to the agricultural heart of California, the Central Valley,” the letter states.

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