Residents of California are facing water shortfalls in the driest year in recorded drought history. In response to and in preparation for extreme drought conditions, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. declared on Friday a State of Emergency.

"We can't make it rain, but we can be much better prepared for the terrible consequences that California's drought now threatens, including dramatically less water for our farms and communities and increased fires in both urban and rural areas," Brown said.

On a note related to the State of Emergency, the arid conditions in the southern part of California are prime for the ignition and spreading of wildfires. As such, the National Weather Service (NWS) has put in place several Red Flag Warnings, which are expected to remain active through Saturday evening.

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. The impacts of these conditions are that, if fire ignition occurs, there could be rapid spread of wildfire that would lead to a threat of life and property.

The first warning, put in place at 5:56 p.m. PST on Friday Jan. 17, will remain in effect until 6:00 p.m. PST on Saturday for the inland mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, due to gusty Santa Ana winds and very low humidity.

Specifically, the warning targets the Ventura County Mountains, Los Padres National Forest, Los Angeles County Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. In terms of timing, conditions will remain critical through Saturday afternoon.

The second warning, issued by the NWS at 11:41 p.m. PST on Friday Jan. 17, will also remain in effect until 6:00 p.m. PST on Saturday Jan. 18. The affected area for this warning is in the Kern County mountains above elevations of 2,000 feet. This warning was put into effect due to very low humidity in the area.

As part of his State of Emergency declaration, Gov. Brown has directed state agencies to hire additional firefighters to be available to assist existing fire personnel when wildfires do strike, as was the case with the Glendora Fire that made headlines and garnered national attention over the past few days.

Other initiatives addressed in the State of Emergency include directing state officials to assist farmers and communities that are economically impacted by dry conditions and to ensure the state can respond to drinking water shortages. The governor also ordered state agencies to use less water and initiated a "greatly expanded" water conservation public awareness campaign.

The proclamation of the State of Emergency can be viewed in its entirety below. The mandates created by Brown, linked to the proclamation are available for review here.

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