When I was watching yesterday’s state Water Resources Control Board meeting, I captured slides relating to the progress of urban conservation.
Last year Gov. Brown asked for a voluntary 20 percent reduction in water use. The news yesterday from the Water Resources Board is that urban water users have achieved a 9 percent reduction compared to 2014.
However, Californians have reduced their usage 13.5 percent when compared against 2013.
Here’s the link to the report.
Monday was the first day that Gov. Brown’s mandated 25 percent reduction in urban water usage took effect.
Hopefully conservation efforts will increase. The focus is all about lawns, leaks and rural areas.
Slide 1. Demonstrates the percentage of water savings over the last months.
Slide 2. Urban water use per person has increased in April to 91 gallons per person/day compared to last month’s 83 gallons per person/day.
Slide 3. For April, the South Coast averages 91 gallons per person/day and are the worst performers in terms of water saved with only 8.7 percent savings. Five districts have a higher per capita use.
Slide 4. Watering restrictions are the next big topic coming up as well as enforcement actions.
Ninety-seven water districts don’t currently have watering days restrictions.
(Culver City does not have watering days restrictions yet. But the supplier, the Golden State Water Co., has applied to the Public Utilities commission to enact them.)
Across the state, 22,674 water waste complaints were submitted.
Almost all of them resulted in formal warnings.
So far, only 838 penalties have been issued.
Mr. Murray may be contacted at stephen@sunstruction.com
