DROUGHT:
Calif. governor urges against finger-pointing as water woes worsen
Anne C. Mulkern, E&E reporter
Published: Thursday, April 9, 2015
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) yesterday urged people not to assign fault as the state’s drought worsens.
“The key challenge here, aside from getting the water, is to be able to collaborate together and not try to blame other people and point fingers,” Brown said. “This water system in California is extremely complex. It affects different people differently. Some people do much better than other people.”
He made the comment to reporters before meeting with representatives from agriculture, major water utilities and environmental groups in Sacramento. That conclave took place a few days after Brown in an executive order required urban cities and towns to shrink water use 25 percent.
The governor did not mandate the same cutback from farms, and some have asked why agriculture wasn’t included. Brown said yesterday that the state’s water structure is complex, leaving room for confusion.
“Because it is hard to understand and impossible to grasp as a whole, it allows for people to say things that are not immediately verifiable,” Brown said. “So a lot of people will say a lot of things that aren’t backed by the facts.”
He added, “It’s easy to talk and pop off. It’s more difficult to speak more wisely and thoughtfully.”
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Twitter: @annecmulkern | Email: amulkern@eenews.net
