California Gov. Jerry Brown said on Sunday the water rations he imposed in the wake of an historic drought should serve as a “wake-up call” not just for residents of his home state but everyone.
“I can tell you, from California, climate change is not a hoax,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We’re dealing with it, and it’s damn serious.”
Brown mandated a 25% cut in the Western state’s water consumption in an executive order signed on Wednesday. The emergency actions also planned for the addition of “drought tolerant landscaping” to 50 million square miles of California lawns.
“It’s requiring action and changes in behavior from the Oregon border all the way to the Mexican border,” Brown said of his mandate. “It affects lawns. It affects people’s – how long they stay in the shower, how businesses use water.”
Those who don’t comply with the law can be fined up to $500 a day and face potential action in court.
ABC anchor Martha Raddatz pressured Brown on criticisms that the new requirements he placed on California’s agricultural industry, which uses a reported 80% of the state’s water, were soft. To put this into perspective, Raddatz reported that more water is being used for almond production than by the combined businesses and homes of Los Angeles and San Francisco.









