The State Water Resources Control Board this week announced that urban Californians’ monthly water conservation was 19.5 percent in October, up from 18.3 percent in September and a bit below the 22.3 percent savings in October 2015, when state-mandated conservation targets were in place. The State Water Board stressed the need for continued conservation despite early rains in northern California.
The cumulative statewide savings from June 2015 through October 2016 was 22.8 percent, compared with the same months in 2013. Since June 2015, 2.26 million acre-feet of water has been saved— enough water to supply more than 11 million people, or more than one-quarter the state’s 38 million population, for a year.
Although October and November rains in northern California provided an encouraging start to the 2016-2017 water year (Oct. 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 2017), 73 percent of the state remains in drought conditions. The State Water Board will continue to monitor conservation levels and water-supply conditions and will consider a staff proposal to extend emergency conservation regulations in January, the Board said. The proposal may include a return to state-mandated conservation targets if dry conditions return or if conservation levels slip significantly.
“Californians’ continued commitment to conservation shows they don’t take water for granted anymore,” said State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus. “With climate change playing an increasingly disruptive role, we need to save where we can, when we can. Coupled with recycling, stormwater recapture and other measures, it will extend our local water resilience.”
Marcus added it is good to see improvement in conservation in areas that had slipped, particularly in northern California, whether that was because of rain or other reasons, even though they have better supplies than in previous years.
Source: State Water Resources Control Board
