NASA: California Is Almost Out Of Water

Via the Guardian:

As California experiences the fourth year of one of the most severe droughts in its history, a senior NASA scientist has warned that the state has about one year of water left. In an LA Times editorial published last week, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory senior water cycle scientist Jay Famiglietti called for a more “forward-looking process” to deal with the state’s dwindling water supply. Famiglietti, who is also a professor at University of California at Irvine, said the state had about one year of water in reservoir storage and the backup supply, groundwater, was low. “California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one (let alone a 20-plus-year mega-drought), except, apparently, staying in emergency mode and praying for rain,” Famiglietti wrote. “In short, we have no paddle to navigate this crisis.” NASA data shows that water storage has been in steady decline in California since at least 2002, before the drought began.

Water rationing plans are well underway.

The State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento will consider sweeping mandates on landscape irrigation Tuesday that could limit water usage for most California homes and businesses to only a few days of the week. If approved, local water agencies would be tasked with choosing the particular days for rationing the supply, but under the mantra that everyone needs to step up conservation efforts. It's a reaction, of course, to the epic, ongoing drought and an especially warm and dry winter. Recently released data from January show that Californians only reduced their water usage by 8.8 percent when compared to January 2013, despite an emergency draft order last year from Gov. Jerry Brown, who asked for a 20 percent cut.

In case you haven't been following along, the drought is Obama's fault, of course.