California transfers water restrictions to communities, despite objections

FRESNO, Calif. (AP)

California decided Wednesday to allow hundreds of local water districts to set their own conservation goals after a wet winter eased the five-year drought in some parts of the state.

The new approach lifts a statewide conservation order enacted last year that requires at least a 20 percent savings.

Beginning next month, districts serving nearly 40 million Californians will compare water supply and demand with the assumption that dry conditions will stretch for three years. The districts would then set savings goals through January and report their calculations to the state.

Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, called it a difficult set of decisions for the panel.

“We don’t want to cry wolf. We also don’t want to put our head in the sand,” she said. “This compromise allows us to keep our eyes wide open.”

Tam Doduc abstained from voting, saying the revised approach does not do enough to address the drought emergency spelled out by Gov. Jerry Brown in a proclamation last week.

“I have to confess that I feel very uneasy with it,” she said of the change. “This is an emergency.”