California is in one of the worst droughts in its history, yet the state’s residents are going backward when it comes to water conservation.
Troubling new numbers out Tuesday show that in October the state reduced urban water use by just 6.7 percent compared with the same month the year before. That’s down from a 10.3 percent reduction in September and an 11.6 percent cut in August.
The figures released by the state’s water board and analyzed by this newspaper also showed a dramatic difference in conservation between the north and south.
While the Bay Area slashed its water use 15.5 percent in October compared with October 2013, Los Angeles basin residents cut their use by only 1.4 percent over the same period. And San Diego actually increased its use of water by 2.6 percent.
“Recent rains are no reason to let up on our conservation efforts,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, which released the survey of 400 cities and water districts. “It will take many sustained storms to get us out of this horrible drought.”
In January, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency and asked the public to cut water use by 20 percent. But most cities and water districts have declined to issue fines for wasteful practices or charge residents higher rates if they use more than a set amount.
Not only do such measures often spark political controversy, they also cost cities and water districts millions of dollars in lost water sales.
Water efficiency experts said Tuesday that Californians — and state politicians — simply aren’t doing enough and are risking severe water shortages in 2015 and 2016 if relentless storms don’t end the drought this winter.
“Frankly, the public has just never gotten the serious message that they should conserve, or adequate information on the many ways they can,” said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, an Oakland think tank that studies water efficiency.
“I’m afraid we’re sliding back into hoping that nature will bail us out,” he said.
Locally, the San Jose Water Co., which provides water to 1 million people, reduced use by 16.5 percent in October. San Francisco cut by 8.7 percent. And the East Bay Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.3 million people in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, cut use by 14.9 percent.
Asked why Southern California wasn’t saving as much as Northern California, Marcus said: “I don’t know. If the Bay Area cities can do it, then Southern California cities can do it. We should all be stepping up.”
Southern California water officials said that a particularly hot October, with temperatures 6 degrees higher than the historic average, led too many people in the Southland to crank up their lawn sprinklers.
“We had off-the-charts, record temperatures in October,” said Ken Weinberg, director of water resources for the San Diego County Water Authority. “It makes it very difficult to save.”
State water board leaders said the reason for the lackluster results might be “drought fatigue.” And they seemed reluctant to single out any agencies.
But Marcus noted that the state water board will hold a hearing Dec. 17 in Los Angeles to ask community leaders for ideas to save more water. The board has the authority to impose fines on communities that don’t conserve enough. It can also impose statewide limits on lawn watering, such as allowing it only one day a week — as some cities, such as Morgan Hill, have already done.
Despite the rain in recent days, most major cities in California are only just now reaching average rainfall totals for the July-December period. And many have rainfall “deficits” of 20 inches or more after the past three record dry years.
Major reservoirs in the state, including Shasta, Oroville and San Luis, are currently only about 25 percent full. Normally in December, they are about 40 percent full.
Bob Muir, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides drinking water to 19 million people in and around Los Angeles, said the district had 2.7 million acre feet of water in its reservoirs at the start of 2013. It now has 1.2 million.
The agency’s board will consider reducing supplies to Southern California cities in January or February if winter rains don’t dent the drought, Muir said.
Meanwhile, Bay Area leaders say they hope this week’s rains — while healthy — aren’t used as an excuse for the public to cut back on conserving.
“Rain or shine, keep saving water,” said Andrea Pook, a spokeswoman for the East Bay Municipal Utility District. “Regardless of what today’s weather is, we need months of rain. We have a lot to make up.”
Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN.
