California Gov. Jerry Brown announced the state’s first-ever statewide mandatory water restrictions on Wednesday, coinciding with the finding that the state’s mountain snowpack — a lifeblood of the thirsty state’s water resources — has reached an anemic state not seen since record-keeping began in 1950.
The snow water equivalent of the state’s snow cover, which is a measure of the water content contained in the snowpack, is just 5% of average snow water equivalent typically seen on April 1, according to the state’s Department of Water Resources.
This is the lowest for the date of any year since such records began. The new data is yet another indicator of the severity of the state’s record drought, which is stretching into its fourth straight dry season and is the state’s most intense drought since at least 1895.
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