February 2017
David Feldman, Professor of Planning, Policy and Design, is quoted in L.A. Weekly, giving insight as to why the six-year drought is still in effect for Los Angeles county, despite the recent storms and above-average rainfall occurring in California. In this article, he cites groundwater replenishment and existing conservation policies as the causes to the reluctance to declare an end to the drought.
From L.A. Weekly:
Feldman says one of the reasons bureaucrats are reluctant to declare an end to the drought is that the drought has trained residents to conserve water, which continues to be advantageous due to the erratic weather seasons of the last decade or so.
"Those of us who look at water never want to get too comfortable," Feldman says. "I suspect that's one of the reasons officials are reluctant to drop the declaration of drought — the fear that we might go back to old habits."