The California Drought Is Technically Over, But Likely Not Forever.
Gov.
Jerry Brown signed an executive order Friday (April 7) marking the end of California’s more than five-year drought in most parts of the state.
All except Tuolumne are primarily comprised of people of color, with the great majority Latinx.
Throughout the drought, as the executive order mentions, the state provided more than 65 million gallons of water to fill water tanks in communities throughout the state—some related to water shortages, others for water contamination.
As Colorlines has covered in the past, certain communities in the Golden State were dealing with more than dwindling water resources.
East Porterville is in Tulare County, one of the counties still under a state of emergency.
Gov.
Brown was clear that the end of this drought doesn’t mean the end of all droughts, especially as climate change exacerbates such extreme weather.
Given these future projections, Brown was sure to include in his executive order a mandate for the State Water Resources Control Board to continue developing permanent prohibitions on wasteful water use and permanent reporting requirements for water use.

Keeping those four counties under a drought declaration ensures money continues to flow for emergency drinking water projects to help water-short communities address dry or contaminated wells, the governor’s order said.
The governor’s order said most of the conditions that prompted his drought declarations of 2014 and 2015 have diminished.
Indeed, another storm was moving through California as the governor issued his order.
“Conservation must become a way of life.” Within the four counties, most communities and farmers are not affected by the continued drought declaration, but small communities where wells have gone dry or there is no access to clean water are included, said water board officials.
For example, Gomberg said, “It allows us to continue the emergency measures, such as for bottled water or emergency hookups in East Porterville.” The State Water Resources Control Board announced Friday that it has approved up to $35 million in grants and loan forgiveness to connect East Porterville residents dealing with dry and contaminated wells to clean and reliable drinking water from the city of Porterville’s public water system.
Cities with ample water supplies will continue to live by state rules as other communities in California’s 54 other counties, state water officials said.
Being better stewards of our natural supplies is critical to securing a sustainable water future for California’s people, economy, and environment.” But a spokeswoman for Westlands Water District, the largest agriculture water district in the nation, said farmers had little choice but to pump water from the ground.
The district supplies water to farmers in Fresno and Kings counties as part of the Central Valley Project, a joint agreement between the federal government and the state.
In the last three years, the district’s farmers have received little to no water from the Central Valley Project.
“Water that typically has gone to the region has stayed in the delta for the protection of fish species.” Holman said the continued drought emergency won’t have an impact on Westlands farmers this year.

Gov Brown lifts California drought emergency, except in some Valley Counties.
The drought strained native fish that migrate up rivers, killed millions of trees, and forced farmers in the nation’s leading agricultural state to rely heavily on groundwater, with some tearing out orchards.
Brown declared the drought emergency in 2014, and officials later ordered mandatory conservation for the first time in state history.
Regulators last year relaxed the rules after a rainfall was close to normal.
But monster storms this winter erased nearly all signs of drought, blanketing the Sierra Nevada with deep snow, California’s key water source, and boosting reservoirs.
The governor lifted the drought emergency in all California counties except Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne, where emergency drinking water projects will continue to help address diminished groundwater supplies.
Water conservation will become a way of life in the nation’s most populous state, said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, who led conservation planning.
Cities and water districts throughout the state will be required to continue reporting their water use each month, said the governor order, which also bans wasteful practices, such as hosing off sidewalks and running sprinklers when it rains.
Atkins said she still receives calls from people whose wells are running dry and need a tank and bottled water.
"In no way is it over," she said of the drought.

NBC Bay Area The latest data from California’s Water Resources Control Board show 700,000 Californians are currently being exposed to contaminated water at home or at school.
In addition to those with contaminated water, another 3,511 California households reported having wells that are still dry according to state data released in January, 2017.
“We found that the majority of those drought impacted public water systems were serving disadvantaged communities.” Five years ago Jerry Brown signed legislation making California the first state in the nation to declare that access to clean, safe drinking water is a fundamental human right.
“They’re all in crisis,” Firestone said.
Having toxic water coming out of your tap, not being able to access water in schools, this is really basic.” State data shows 292 different California water systems currently contain levels of contaminants so high they violate safe drinking water standards.
“I think a lot of people forget that.” Tulare County resident Esperanza Venegas remembers when the well providing water for her family dried up last year.
In unincorporated East Porterville, thousands of residents have had no running water for nearly three years.
Though local and state officials recently began connecting some East Porterville residents to a nearby public water system, there are about 800 eligible homes still waiting to be hooked up.
"The public water systems have a lot of local control over the sources of water and how they manage it.
“We’ve got to be thinking about it if our goal is to get clean, safe and affordable drinking water to all Californians.” None of these efforts can come fast enough for residents struggling to get by with dry taps or contaminated water.