California residents may experience a fifth consecutive year of severe drought.
There’s been a surge of people taking action to adapt to the drought – some have fixed leaky pipes, replaced their dead grass with artificial grass, or installed conservative bathroom fixtures. Experts predict even the end-of-year rainfall may not be enough to help the state recover, so homeowners and business owners should consider what steps they need to take to save both water and money.
“Across California and the Great Basin, drought remained unchanged as the region continued through its climatologically dry summer season. However, heat exacerbated the impacts of the region’s historic drought, with daytime highs reaching or eclipsing 100°F from central California into the southern Great Basin,” the report noted.
The U.S. Drought Monitor released Oct. 1 shows 92 percent of California is in severe drought, 71 percent in extreme and 46 percent in exceptional drought.