Mongabay: On April 1, California Governor Jerry Brown stood in a Sierra Nevada meadow atop parched, brown grass at an elevation of 6,800 feet, where there would normally be five feet of snow at that time of year and announced the states first-ever mandatory water restrictions. The Golden State is still in the grip of a severe drought that began in 2012, and new research suggests it is one of the worst in centuries. The day Gov. Brown announced the statewide water restrictions, snowpack in the Sierra...