California governor expected to declare drought emergency

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

California governor expected to declare drought emergency

BY SHARON BERNSTEIN
SACRAMENTO, California Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:05am EST

(Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown is expected to declare a drought emergency for the parched state on Friday, allowing him to seek federal help as the state faces its third dry winter in a row, according to a Democratic political source and local media.

California has just completed what may turn out to be the driest year on record in many areas, leaving water reservoirs with a fraction of their normal reserves and slowing the normally full American River so dramatically that brush and dry riverbed are showing through in areas normally teeming with fish.

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January and February are the wettest months in much of the state, and so far 2014 has been mostly dry, with little precipitation expected, according to the National Weather Service.

Brown is expected to make the declaration Friday morning at a hastily called news conference in San Francisco. Declaring a drought emergency will allow him to call for conservation measures, and also provide flexibility in deciding the state's water priorities.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/17/us-usa-california-drought-idUSBREA0G0BZ20140117

[roody]

1. Good. I already conserve water, so

I won't do much differently.