State is one step closer to imposing mandatory water restrictions after residents have largely shrugged off Newsom’s pleas to voluntarily reduce their consumption as the state plunges into another year of drought.
On Tuesday, state officials approved a program to cut water usage across California by 10 to 20 percent, and this includes a blanket ban on the watering of ornamental lawns in communal areas of subdivisions and on all commercial properties.
The environmental group American Rivers lists “excessive water withdrawals” as the main threat to the lower Kern, which is dry in all but the biggest water years as it cuts through the heart of Bakersfield.