Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued the following statement regarding World Water Day and the White House Water Summit held today:

“On World Water Day - as California’s drought stretches on - we’re reminded that no matter where you live, access to water is not guaranteed. With today’s Summit and the Federal Action Plan, the Obama Administration is confronting this reality and planning for the future.”

Today’s White House Water Summit focused on water challenges throughout the country, including California’s drought, and ways to build a more resilient water future. Ahead of the Summit, the Obama Administration released a Presidential Memorandum and Federal Action Plan that aim to bolster long-term drought resilience in the United States by setting drought resilience policy goals, directing specific drought resilience activities to be completed by the end of the year and permanently establishing the National Drought Resilience Partnership as an interagency task force responsible for coordinating drought resilience, response and recovery efforts.

These efforts complement the state’s updated California Water Action Plan, released earlier this year, which lays out the actions that must be taken to protect water supplies for people and the environment and to fix the state’s critical water resource problems.