Watering lawns daily has become a thing of the past in California as Gov. Jerry Brown made water use reduction compulsory after its four-year drought teeters toward near-crisis levels due to record-law snowfalls in the last winter.

Brown issued an executive order that requires the State Water Resources Control Board to cut by 25 percent water supply to 400 local water supply agencies that serve 90 percent of California residents. The order will affect residences, farms and other businesses, even cemeteries maintenance and golf courses, reports the New York Times.

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The cuts, besides watering lawns, would also affect washing of vehicles and even personal hygiene such as taking showers. But it excludes owners of large farms who get their water from sources outside the local water agencies.

Cities are prohibited from watering ornamental grass on public street medians, while 50 million square feet of lawns throughout California would be replaced with landscaping that tolerates drought.

However, large farms would still be required to provide detailed reports to state regulators of their water usage to uncover incidents of water diversion or waste.

By exempting the large farms from the mandatory 25 percent reduction, farm or food prices are expected to remain at current levels in the short term.

In January 2014, Brown issued a reduction order of 20 percent which the state found difficult to reach. The order was for voluntary compliance. Now that it is mandatory, state officials could impose penalties, such as fines, on erring businesses, farms and homeowners.

Brown made the announcement on Wednesday while attending the yearly measurement of the snowpack at the Sierra Nevadas where water that falls during the wet season are stored and released during summer.

California Cooperative Snow Survey Program Chief Frank Gehrke said that during a typical year, the snowpack should measure five or six feet. However, Gehrke and Brown were standing on dry fields on Wednesday, indicating the drought had worsened further.

SFGate reports that snow depth was estimated at 1 to 2 inches, which is worse than the record-low 27 inches in 1977.

Brown commented, "We are standing on dry grass, and we should be standing on five feet of snow. We are in a historic drought."

The governor acknowledged that imposing water cuts is a difficult thing to implement as people would point to each other's water use.

Tagscalifornia, drought, water