Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has already issued an executive order calling on Californians to voluntarily cut their water use, and now the governor says mandatory restrictions could be coming soon.

Pssst. Ready to water that beautiful lush lawn of yours? The one that’s the envy of the entire neighborhood. If you live in Southern California you’d better wait until after midnight. Preferably on a cloudy, new-moon night during a power outage when it’s so dark even night-vision goggles won’t give away your position. Otherwise you could wind up the star of the latest drought-shaming video posted on YouTube or Twitter. “Yeah, I put your address out there. The world is watching a lot more,” says Tony Corcoran, one of several people who spend their spare time these days canvassing the...

Early last month we warned that California’s drought was approaching historic proportions and that if climatologists were to be believed, the country may see a repeat of The Dirty Thirties as experts cite “Dust Bowl” conditions. Governor Jerry Brown has called for statewide water restrictions aimed at reducing consumption by 25%. Now, the conservation calls are getting much louder as the state’s water regulators have approved “unprecedented” measures aimed at curtailing the crisis. Via AP:  California water regulators adopted sweeping, unprecedented restrictions Tuesday on how people, governments and businesses can use water amid the state's ongoing drought, hoping to push reluctant...

ECHO LAKE, Calif. – California Gov. Jerry Brown has ordered state officials to impose mandatory water restrictions for the first time in history as the state grapples with a serious drought. In an executive order issued Wednesday, Brown ordered the state water board to implement reductions in cities and towns to cut usage by 25 percent.

The Endangered Species Act has wreaked havoc for decades on rural communities, but a newly filed lawsuit could force San Francisco urbanites like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to share their pain. A federal complaint filed this week contends that the Hetch Hetchy Project, which supplies water to San Francisco and the Bay Area, has unfairly enjoyed an exemption from the “severe cutbacks” required in rural California in order to save endangered fish species. Craig Manson, who heads the Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy and Reliability (CESAR) in Fresno, said the lawsuit is aimed at addressing the “double standard” that...