Californians reach water-useage goal
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – December’s rains enabled Californians to finally meet Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for a 20 percent reduction in monthly water consumption, but more restrictions loom as the state adapts to long-term drought conditions.
California is by no means out of trouble, despite a survey released Tuesday that showed an unusually rainy month helped residents cut water use by 22 percent statewide from December 2013 levels.
The Sierra Nevada snowpack that supplies a third of California’s water is 75 percent below its historical average. And for the first time in recorded history, there was no measurable rainfall in downtown San Francisco in January, when winter rains usually come.
GOP-led House votes to repeal health law
WASHINGTON – Newly empowered congressional Republicans challenged President Barack Obama at both ends of the Capitol on Tuesday, voting in the House to repeal the health-care program he signed into law but faltering in an initial Senate attempt to roll back immigration policies he issued on his own.
There was a third challenge as well, as Republican leaders announced the House would give final approval next week on legislation clearing the way for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. That would trigger Obama’s threatened veto, the first in a new era of divided government.
The skirmishes all seemed likely to end in eventual defeat for Republicans.
Associated Press
