After 2 years of below-average rainfall, low snowmelt runoff and a court-ordered restriction on water transfers, Gov. Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought -- warning that residents must immediately cut their water use or face the possibility of rationing next year if there is another dry winter.

March, April and May were the driest winter months on record in the Sierra Nevada, on which much of California depends for winter snowmelt.

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