Members of the state Water Resources Control Board - czars of the state's drought emergency program - will decide May 18 whether to remove the 11-month-old statewide order.

The conservation effort required at least 20 percent water conservation overall by most of the water districts serving California's nearly 40 million people.

Cities and water agencies that can prove they have enough water to get by if the wet winter proves a blip, and drought continues another three years, would be able to get out from under the mandatory conservation.

"This is not a time to start using water like it's 1999 ... this year could simply be a punctuation mark in a mega-drought," warned Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state water board.