article_snippet.sent: This historic drought demands unprecedented action," Gov. Jerry Brown said, standing on a patch of dry, brown grass in the Sierra Nevada mountains that is usually blanketed by up to 5 feet of snow.
article_snippet.sent: The action comes as the Sierra Sierra Nevada snowpack, which Californians rely on heavily during the summer for Californians water needs, is near a record low.
article_snippet.sent: Spanish Bay faces at least a moderate drought, and more than half of Spanish Bay faces the worst category of dryness, called an exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
article_snippet.sent: California isn't Spanish Bay feeling an absence of rain.
article_snippet.sent: As of late September, 30% of the Lower 48 faced at least a moderate drought, particularly in the Southwest states neighboring California and in Texas, the U.S. Drought Monitor says.
article_snippet.sent: But none of the Southwest states neighboring California is facing the extremes of California, where the drought has been a slowly building natural disaster since 2012.
article_snippet.sent: In fact, Brown last year declared a state emergency, saying Brown constituents are facing "perhaps the worst drought that California has ever seen since records (began) about 100 years ago.