December Among Driest On Record; Water Rationing Orders Bloom In Central Valley
December is usually not the time of year to discuss water rationing. But this holiday month has been so dry that mandatory water conservation orders are beginning to sweep across the Sacramento region.
The city of Folsom led the pack on Monday, imposing a mandatory 20 percent water conservation order. On Thursday, Sacramento County asked customers in unincorporated areas to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 20 percent. The cities of Sacramento and Roseville are likely to consider their own measures during the first week of January.
In some cases, these will be the strictest water rationing orders the region has seen since the drought of 1976-77, one of the worst in history.
All this is unusual for December, but it illustrates how dry the month has been. December is normally one of the wettest months of the year, considered crucial to build up a mountain snowpack to help the state survive its dry summers. But this December ranks as one of the driest ever recorded. It suggests California may be facing a third straight dry winter.
EDIT
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/12/29/6032646/drought-brings-water-rationing.html