"Under fire from water agencies who were losing millions of dollars in lost water sales, Gov. Jerry Brown's administration two months ago dropped all mandatory water conservation targets and allowed cities, water districts and private water companies across the state to set their own targets.

Now, the results are in: 343 urban water agencies -- or 84 percent of the 411 largest in the state -- gave themselves a conservation target of zero for the rest of this year.

When the figures were released Tuesday, state water board officials defended their decision. But critics said the new numbers proved that the move was reckless, given that half the state is still in a severe drought."

Paul Rogers reports for the San Jose Mercury News August 16, 2016. [2]