Water conservation efforts working in California

In January, Governor Brown called for California residents to drop their water usage by 20% due to the drought. In July, urban water usage in the state was down by 7.5%. White this isn't the requested 20%, it still represents 17 billion gallons of water conserved. That is the equivalent of 25,755 Olympic-sized swimming pools or enough water for 1.7 billion people each to take a 5-minute shower.

In a report released Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) said that they surveyed 362 urban water suppliers across the state. Of those regions, 44 of them, which represent 3.2 million Californians, reported conservation gains above 20 percent for the month of July over the preceding year.

“We are glad to see the progress that many more California urban communities have made to conserve water,” said Felicia Marcus, Chair of the State Water Board. “Every action, from taking a shorter shower, to putting a lawn on a water diet, to replacing turf with drought-tolerant landscaping, contributes to every community’s water security. While this initial report is an improvement, we hope and trust that it is just a start. Countless Californians see and feel the effects of this drought and know that we still are facing a drought that may be far from over – others still do not and can and should step up. Wasting precious potable water today imperils our communities’ future.”

The results for the month of August will be released on September 15.