Water use climbs in California enclaves as drought returns
TUSTIN, Calif. (AP) — Overall water use is climbing in Southern California as that part of the state plunges back into drought, driving state and regional water managers as they consider permanently reinstating some watering bans and conservation programs. Gov. Jerry Brown lifted California’s drought emergency status a year ago, after a wet winter that snapped a historic 20132017 drought, and the state ended his 25 percent mandatory conservation order.
Water use has been moving steadily upward since then, especially in a six-county area of Southern California that includes the biggest chunk of the state’s nearly 40 million people. Water use there was up 3 percent in December, the last month for which figures are available, compared to the same month in 2013 before mandatory conservation.
Many of the biggest offenders are well-off communities, with sweeping lawns to keep alive. The average residential user in one Malibu water district, for instance, used 255 gallons a day, according to the state water board — three times the U.S. average of 83 gallons per person per day. It’s also up 7 percent from the same month in 2013, before Brown ordered the 25 percent conservation by cities and towns in 2015.
The water district for an enclave north of Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, hit 270 gallons per person, per day water use that month. Residents of an east Orange County water district used 203 gallons a day.
Despite a fall and winter that have brought Los Angeles less than one-fourth of normal rainfall, “you still see thick green lawns” in some communities, said Conner Everts, a Los Angeles-based conservation specialist who works with nonprofits and government agencies.
Wendy Silva, a 57-yearold homemaker from the Orange County city of Santa Ana, wasn’t lured by multimillion-dollar rebate programs during the drought that paid homeowners to remove thirsty lawns, and admits to her husband giving their lawn extra water since conservation orders eased.
Silva said she’s glad to have her green grass back after seeing it turn brown during the drought. She doesn’t plan to swap it out for drought-tolerant landscaping as some of her neighbors in arid Southern California have done.