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California Lifts Mandatory Water Restrictions

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Boat docks sit empty on dry land, as Folsom Lake reservoir near Sacramento stands at only 18 percent capacity, as the severe drought continues in California on September 17, 2015.  California has recently announced sweeping statewide water restrictions for the first time in history in order to combat the region's devastating drought, the worst since records began.          (Mark Ralston /AFP/Getty Images)
Boat docks sit empty on dry land, as Folsom Lake reservoir near Sacramento stands at only 18 percent capacity, as the severe drought continues in California on September 17, 2015. California has recently announced sweeping statewide water restrictions for the first time in history in order to combat the region's devastating drought, the worst since records began. (Mark Ralston /AFP/Getty Images)

Local water districts in California will now be allowed to set their own water use targets after the state's water board suspended the 25 percent mandatory water usage reductions implemented last year. This comes after a winter of rains helped fill some of the states reservoirs and helped replenish the Sierra Mountain snow pack.

California continues to suffer from a serious drought which is now in its fifth year and not everyone agrees that lifting the water restrictions is a good idea. Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Felicia Marcus, chair of the California State Water Resources Board.

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This segment aired on May 19, 2016.

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