Californians use 22 percent less water, but more cuts loom

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – December’s rains enabled Californians to finally meet Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for a 20-percent reduction in monthly water consumption, but more restrictions loom as the state adapts to long-term drought conditions.

California is by no means out of trouble, despite a survey released Tuesday that showed an unusually rainy month helped residents cut water use by 22 percent statewide from December 2013 levels.

The Sierra Nevada snowpack that supplies a third of California’s water is 75 percent below its historical average, and for the first time in recorded history, there was no measurable rainfall in downtown San Francisco in January, when winter rains usually come.

Residents have reduced consumption since July, when the state authorized cities to fine people $500-a-day for violating restrictions on lawn watering and washing cars.

Other ideas now being considered by the board include mandatory reviews of city water systems for leaks and penalizing agencies that haven’t discouraged water-wasting by their customers.

The governor called on Californians to use 20 percent less water last year when he declared a drought emergency. The closest they previously came to reaching that goal was in August, when water use dropped 11.6 percent.

“California is doing its part to save our water, but the drought is far from over,” Brown said in a statement Tuesday, declining through a spokesman to comment in more detail. “Careful stewardship and conservation must be our way of life.”

A state drought-busting campaign declaring “Brown is the New Green” encourages people to let their lawns die. But outdoor watering makes up just a tenth of California’s water use; three quarters of it goes to agriculture, and yet state officials haven’t campaigned against water-intensive almond orchards and rice fields the same way.

“Homeowners should do their part, but the focus has been way too much on residents,” said Maria Gutzeit, a member of a water district board in the Santa Clarita area. “You ask anyone here how they are going to sell a house with dead grass and dead bushes, and you’ll bankrupt people for something that doesn’t even significantly help the statewide water portfolio.”