An aerial view of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.State water officials today ordered cuts in water to dozens of growers and ranchers, limiting supplies to farmers who have had rights to the water for more than a century. The cutbacks mark the first time since 1977 — also a severe drought year — that such reductions have been ordered.
Lake Oroville ravaged by drought. (Photo: State Department of Water Resources, 2014)The heavy hitters are stepping up to the plate. California’s two behemoth water deliverers — the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project, perhaps the best known water purveyors in the world — are poised to join together to move water quickly around the state in the face of an unprecedented drought. (Above: Lake Oroville. Photo: DWR)
Gov. Brown today signed an executive order urging Californians to voluntarily cut their water use by 20 percent, and eased rules to enable farmers to purchase water from those with more plentiful supplies. (Gov. Brown signs drought declaration in San Francisco.Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP)