Governor Brown has urged citizens to reduce their water usage by 20 percent.
This season, officials have been pulling the plug of excessive water usages such as water-scaping.
The reason? Sacramento is having its driest winter in a generation.
Environmentalists say that the dry weather is caused by a high-pressure ridge parked over the Pacific Ocean diverting storms north of California. This ridge has been unusually persistent, essentially fixed in place for more than a year. Why this has occurred is unknown, but it may be linked to warm ocean conditions in the North Pacific and Gulf of Alaska.
This results in a drier climate and, as most of Sacramento may note, no rain.
Multiple regions are feeling the impact of the drought; Folsom Lake has reached a historic low and citizens in the region have been required to a 20 percent water rationing order.
To give a measure of how low the lake is, the remains of a Gold Rush era ghost town is visible for the first time in years.
The American River has also visibly diminished in size, exposing much of its rocky shore to the outside.
Although California has experienced many droughts, there have never been any clear cut rules on when to formally declare one.
“It’s not like the declaration of drought can make it rain,” said Gohring.
There are generally three signs that the region is experiencing a drought: low water storage, dry weather forecasts, and low soil moisture.
Based on these criteria, the Northern Californian region is going through a major drought.
Governor officials are still crossing their fingers for some rain this season, but its not looking like there’s going to be much rainfall.
“What people don’t realize is that it’s the combined efforts of everyone that will help in saving water,” said House Speaker John Boehner, as interviewed by CBS.

Governor Brown has urged citizens to reduce their water usage by 20 percent. This season, officials have been pulling the plug of excessive water usages such as water-scaping.
The reason? Sacramento is having its driest winter in a generation.
Environmentalists say that the dry weather is caused by a high-pressure ridge parked over the Pacific Ocean diverting storms north of California. This ridge has been unusually persistent, essentially fixed in place for more than a year. Why this has occurred is unknown, but it may be linked to warm ocean conditions in the North Pacific and Gulf of Alaska.
This results in a drier climate and, as most of Sacramento may note, no rain.
Multiple regions are feeling the impact of the drought; Folsom Lake has reached a historic low and citizens in the region have been required to a 20 percent water rationing order.
To give a measure of how low the lake is, the remains of a Gold Rush era ghost town is visible for the first time in years.
The American River has also visibly diminished in size, exposing much of its rocky shore to the outside.
Although California has experienced many droughts, there have never been any clear cut rules on when to formally declare one.
There are generally three signs that the region is experiencing a drought: low water storage, dry weather forecasts, and low soil moisture.
Based on these criteria, the Northern Californian region is going through a major drought.
Governor officials are still crossing their fingers for some rain this season, but its not looking like there’s going to be much rainfall.
“What people don’t realize is that it’s the combined efforts of everyone that will help in saving water,” said House Speaker John Boehner.
Students are playing their part to help in the rationing of the water.
“My family and I can’t take showers longer than five minutes,” said senior Marshall Raley. “My mom strictly monitors the time and even put a chicken timer in the showers so we know when to stop.”
Using excess water has been discouraged as well.
“We stopped water-scaping as often,” said senior Mike Yun.
The citizens are urged to do their part to conserve during this dry period.