CA drought drying up Hearst Castle's fountains and pool
Hearst Castle visitors will soon find dusty buses, dry fountains and an empty pool, thanks to one of the worst droughts in California history.
Springs that supply the state historical monument are running at just one-sixth normal, said Nick Franco, superintendent of the San Luis Obispo Coast District of State Parks. Only 47,000 gallons a day now flow from the springs, which State Parks shares with the Hearst Ranch, down from a normal of 285,000 gallons a day in a normal year.
That means a trio of reservoirs that typically are filled with 2.75 million gallons of water this time of year are only about a third full, not enough to carry the Castle through the summer.
This story was originally published January 30, 2014 at 11:21 AM with the headline "CA drought drying up Hearst Castle's fountains and pool."