Gov. Brown To Officially Declare Drought In California
SANTA CLARA (KCBS) — Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday his administration would soon declare an official drought designation for California to help maximize water resources across the state. Meanwhile, local Bay Area communities are already experiencing the effects.
Brown spoke at Fresno City Hall press conference on Monday after meeting with local water district officials, farmers and other agricultural leaders.
Gov. Brown Says California Will Declare A Drought Soon
He said that, by some measures, 2013 was the driest year in California history.
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"In many ways it's a mega-drought; it's been going on for number of years and then we also have the prospect of global climate change and that can affect us as well," Brown said.
The effects of the drought are being felt in the Bay Area, including Santa Clara County where Supervisor David Cortese told KCBS that his office is getting calls from some rural residents concerned about their water supply.
"We've had aquifers dry up. I was approached by a constituent telling me that his well dried up and he's got a large home in a rural area that's just without water," he said.
"They are trucking water in and this is not an uncommon situation right now."
Cortese said he was asking county administrators to conduct a thorough analysis of the drought conditions and propose long and short-term solutions.
