Editorial: Rain dances are not a winning water strategy
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Dec. 22, 2013, Fresno Bee.
People are uttering the D-word again.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Jim Costa and many other lawmakers in the Democratic and Republican parties want Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state drought emergency.
The first 10 months of 2013 were the driest on record in California, dating to 1895, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
That record follows two years of dry conditions, so several Northern California reservoirs are now at less than 40 percent of capacity, including Shasta and Oroville at 37 percent, and Folsom at 21 percent.