The percent of water saved by the States large urban water agency suppliers decreased from 29.1 percent in May to 27.3 percent in June, in same-month water use comparisons of 2015 to 2013.
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“The beauty of this system is that it sends reports directly to the water suppliers”, Marcus said.
And, storage is the most important measure of whether people and businesses get any relief, and the ability to use more water instead of adhering to the hard 25% guidelines.
San Gabriel Valley Water Company – reduced water use by 35 percent in June, 1.5 times greater than the 23 percent reduction recorded in May.
Ward: “We have our local water supply quite visible to our community because our main source is our local reservoir, Lake Cachuma, and people see the water level consistently dropping and dropping over the past couple of years”.
The year 2013 serves as the baseline for determining water savings statewide.
Nearly 40 percent of urban water suppliers cut their water use dramatically, by 30 percent or more.
Officials called the statewide savings the latest sign Californians understand the seriousness of the state’s historic drought, now in its fourth year.
On January 17, Gov. Brown declared a state of emergency due to the state’s severe drought conditions, and asked all Californians to voluntarily reduce their water usage by 20 percent.
While most of those deaths occurred outside urban areas, conservationists and officials are now focusing on cities.
The Peninsula’s Westborough Water District was one of the few Bay Area agencies that fell far short of its conservation goal, failing to produce any savings in June. Combined, the state’s water agencies issued 9,500 penalties in June, up from 1,900 in May.
Despite some sporadic recent storms in Southern California and the Sierra Nevada this month, 95 percent of California remains in a “severe” drought, according to new figures out Thursday from the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly report from the federal government and University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
“We will absolutely be working with (Coachella Valley Water District) and the other agencies on that list on ways to increase all their conservation activities, including their enforcement activities”, Gomberg said.
On July 8, the Nevada City Council passed a resolution declaring a stage 3 water shortage warning, establishing mandatory water restrictions to conserve potable water in the city.
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The state’s mandatory conservation regulations will remain in effect through February 2016, with Marcus encouraging continued water conservation efforts.
