According to foreign reports on February 1, the U.S. California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced that in wake of the worsening drought, the government might, for the first time, stop supplying water from the reservoir to the local water bureau.

This will be the first time in history that the DWR would take "zero allocation" measures. These measures would affect 25 million people.

Two-thirds of Californian residents and 1 million acres of farmland rely on the DWR to supply water for drinking and irrigation.

Last Friday (January 31), Jerry Brown, the Governor of California, formally proclaimed that the state is "facing perhaps the worst drought California has ever seen since records began being kept." California's largest reservoir appeared at record low levels.

After the DWR announced "zero allocation" measures, the Governor of California clearly "urged residents to conserve water, suggesting they avoid flushing toilets unnecessarily and to turn off the faucet while shaving."

California Farm Bureau Federation called this announcement a "terrible blow" for them.

The DWR's water supply comes from the San Joaquin River Delta, and then passes through a water supply network of huge reservoirs, pipelines, canals, and pumping stations to reach the local water supply bureau.

Taking "zero allocation" by no means implies that all farmland in California being irrigated is dry and that each city will be without water.

Although there are 29 sources of water that reservoirs draw from for the state for the DWR as well as other water supply sources, these sources have also suffered greatly from the drought.

Extreme drought has already led to fires in the Los Angeles area, burning houses.

Previously, in 2003 and 2007, California also has suffered from extremely dry weather, resulting in disastrous wildfires.