California Imposes Mandatory Water Restrictions: What Businesses are Doing to Survive the 2015 Drought

Standing atop a dry Sierra Nevada meadow on Wednesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown conceded that previously placed water restrictions aimed at battling the state's catastrophic drought weren't working.

The ground Brown stood on usually garners around five or six feet of snow a year. A snowpack measurement taken by scientists at yesterday's press conference measured zero, the first time since 1940 no snow had been measured.

 "This historic drought demands unprecedented actions," Brown said. "Therefore, I'm issuing an executive order mandating substantial water reductions across our state. As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible." The executive order is a first in California history.

Snowpack levels have fallen at alarming rates over the last four years - from 171 percent of normal in 2011, to 42 percent in 2013, to a record-low 25 percent this year.

Two weeks ago, lawmakers issued voluntary restrictions and $1 billion in relief, but that was before reports indicated the state was getting less than five percent its annual snowfall average. Brown said he wants a 25 percent cut in water usage across the state - that's five percent more than the voluntary reduction goal.

The governor's objectives over the next nine months include: requiring large landscaped spaces - like golf courses, campuses, and cemeteries - to reduce water consumption, replacing 50 million square feet of lawn statewide with drought-tolerant landscaping, and creating a statewide rebate program to replace old appliances with energy-efficient ones.

Brown also said enforcing the mandates would be key, insinuating that residents' and business owners' would be subject to fines and legal recourse.

Snowpacks account for about 30 percent of the state's water supply, and their runoff replenishes California reservoirs. The dearth of this spring means less water in reserve when summer arrives and temperatures rise.

Brown's speech was directed at municipal water users but those more directly affected are farm, which use about 80 percent of the state's water. Many farmers are already planned for a dry summer by planting drought-tolerant crops. This comes after the four-year drought already forced many to drill deep into the ground to access water.

Last year, California farmers harvested a record 14 million tomatoes; tomatoes being a high-value crop that thrive without water. California produces about 95 percent of the United States' tomatoes, according to the California Tomato Growers Association.

While grapevines continue to flourish in places like Napa Valley and Temecula, some predict inexpensive wine producers are about to feel the brunt of the drought's impact. As wine producers continue to pop up, prices decreases force businesses to cut costs and manager their water more wisely.

"The America consumer of wine is trending her/his wine buying to $10 and above, and that is great for many winery brands. The challenge again this year will be wines selling at $7 and below, as that price segment is retracting in volume," Allied Grape Growers President Nat DiBuduo wrote in an industry report.

"That market and those growers may face another difficult year in 2015.This price point however does represent over half the volume of wine consumption."

Agricultural businesses are only getting a fraction of the irrigation they used to get. Brown's order is just the latest attempt from lawmakers to fix that.

In 2012, House Republicans passed legislation that would have reinstated the Bay Delta Accord; a compromise between farmers, residents, environmentalists, and government that diverted water from a protected species of fish to people hardest hit by the drought.

The Democrat-controlled Senate ignored that bill and a similar one proposed last year. GOP members said their approached was a more balanced way of dispersing water than what the Obama Administration had ordered.

Specifics on how the State Water Resource Control Board will implement Brown's mandates have not been disclosed but cuts will vary from community to community, and business to business.

"People should realize we are in a new era," Brown said. "The idea of your nice little green lawn getting watered every day, those days are past."