Sacramento City Leaders Voting On Plan To Conserve Water

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Sacramento city officials are deciding today on a course of action for saving water in the area.

City leaders will vote on the most severe water restrictions in city history. If the mandate passes, residents and business would have to cut use by 20 to 30 percent. The mandate would be enforced by monitoring water meters. For those not on meters, code enforcement would patrol streets looking for violations, with fines reaching into the thousands of dollars.

In the San Joaquin County town of Farmington, drought conditions and water worries hitting a ranch there. The dry grass at Snow Ranch should now be a pasture, but because it's dry, the ranch now has to buy hay for its cattle to eat. The water level at the ranch's reservoir is about 30 feet lower than normal.

"When dealing with Mother Nature, you have to take what you are dealt. And we've learned to have a sustainable system that takes into account the variations," said Don Harper, with Orvis Cattle Company.

If the dry spell continues, ranches may have to sell their cattle early.

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