With a dry, brown mountain location as a backdrop on Wednesday, April 1, California Governor Jerry Brown announced mandatory water restrictions on cities and towns across the state designed to reduce water usage by 25 percent.

Though agricultural water users are required to report more data concerning their water use for the development of water management plans, farmers and growers will not be held to the same 25 percent reduction that will be imposed on urban users. Citing the toll the drought has already taken on farmers —Reservoirs throughout California will receive very little additional water this spring as snowpack is at an all-time low level. including a zero federal water allocation for the second year in a row and the fallowing of a reported 500,000 acres last year — they were spared from participating in this mandatory program. In his announcement, Gov. Brown acknowledged that agriculture has “borne much of the brunt of the drought to date, with hundreds of thousands of fallowed acres, significantly reduced water allocations and thousands of farmworkers laid off.”

Some critics questioned the governor’s exclusion of agriculture, but other praised his plan, including Tom Nassif, Western Growers president and chief executive officer. “Through these actions, Governor Brown acknowledges the seriousness of the drought all Californians face. Although much of the population has been relatively unaffected by the natural and man-made causes perpetuating the drought, no one has been more affected than California farmers,” he said. “Western Growers is pleased that the governor, in his announcement, has acknowledged the plight of the state’s farmers and the sacrifices they have made in fallowing hundreds of thousands of acres and laying off thousands of farmworkers due to the lack of water.”

Gov. Brown’s announcement came in the form of an executive order. It requires the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory water reductions in cities and towns across California to reduce water usage by 25 percent. Additionally, it directs local water agencies to adjust their rate structures to implement conservation pricing, and establishes a new program administered by the California Energy Commission to create incentives for the development of promising new technology that will make California more water efficient.

The order also focuses on extraneous use of water in urban settings such as ordering cities to stop watering the median strips that run down the middle of roads. The state will partner with local agencies to remove 50 million square feet of grass and replace it with drought-tolerant landscaping through rebate program. Homeowners will also be offered monetary incentives to replace inefficient appliances and sprinklers with more efficient products.

The order does take into account that some cities and water agencies have already implemented programs to reduce water use. Those who have done nothing will be required to step up and conserve. The state’s Water Control Board is expected to release draft regulations within a couple of weeks to implement the order. The burden of compliance will fall on local water agencies with potential fines of as much as $10,000 per day for non-compliance.

Though agriculture was spared from draconian cuts, California is in dire straits and more cuts will be needed if the drought continues. Substantial rainfall in December has helped the annual precipitation tables for most communities to appear as if this is a normal year. It also helped replenish some very low reservoirs, but the lack of snow has reached historic proportions. At least 30 percent of the water the state uses during the year comes from snowmelt. The field Gov. Brown was standing in when making his announcement would typically be covered with five feet of snow. The state’s Department of Water Resources April 1 snowpack measurement revealed that there is less snow, and the all-important water content, than any time since 1950 when that measurement was initiated. In fact, in those 65 years, twice the snowpack level was as low as 25 percent of average, including last year. This year’s snowpack currently stands at 5 percent of average.