WATER USAGE UP 17% AMONG STATE’S URBAN RESIDENTS
Figures mark 2nd straight month of higher consumption
California water conservation efforts continued to lag in April despite the deepening drought, according to new state figures released Tuesday.
The Golden State’s urban residents used 17.6 percent more water in April compared with the same month in 2020, the year the current drought began and the baseline against which conservation efforts are measured.
The South Coast hydrologic region — an area that includes Los Angeles and more than half the state’s population — remained among the worst offenders, using 25.6 percent more water in April than in April 2020. It was second only to the Colorado River hydrologic region, which increased usage by about 41 percent.
Officials said the dismal report marked the second straight month of substantially higher water consumption
in the state. April’s use was only marginally less than that of March, when Californians used about 19 percent more water than the baseline.
“The rain is usually finished by the end of April, and as of today, almost 60 percent of the state is in the two highest drought categories,” Marielle Rhodeiro, a
research data specialist with the State Water Resources Control Board, said during Tuesday’s meeting of the board. “As the summer progresses, that number is likely to increase.”
The cumulative savings from last July — when Gov. Gavin Newsom called on Californians to voluntarily cut water use by 15 percent
— to the end of April were just 2 percent, she said.
The numbers arrived even as state water officials pleaded with residents to do more to conserve. January, February and March marked California’s driestever recorded start to the year, and the state now sits in a perilous position as it heads into the hot, dry months of summer.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor update, published Thursday, shows about 12 percent of the state under “exceptional” drought, the worst possible category, up from 0 percent just three months ago.
Those conditions are “unlikely to improve,” deputy director Eric Ekdahl told the board.
“Expect things to intensify over the next couple of months,” Ekdahl said, noting that almost all of the year’s snow has melted and reservoirs probably won’t receive any more precipitation until at least the start of the next water year in October.
What’s more, the latest temperature outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows above-normal temperatures in California for the next month, Ekdahl said. Much of the state is bracing for a heat wave this week, with Sacramento forecast to hit 105 degrees on Friday.
But the outlook wasn’t all grim. A spot of rain in April helped break the state’s dry streak and “somewhat mediate residential use,” Rhodeiro said.
Two Northern California areas, the North Coast and North Lahontan hydrologic regions, posted gains in April, saving about 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively, while the San Francisco Bay Area reported no change.
Water board chair Joaquin Esquivel also underscored that 2020, the comparison year, had some of the lowest-ever recorded water usage. When compared to 2021, residents in April used about 7 gallons less per person per day, he said.
“Having that year-overyear reduction from last year is at least heartening,” he said.
What’s more, April’s numbers don’t account for the massive call for conservation ordered by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at the end of that month.
Dozens of water agencies, including the Los Angeles Department of Water Power, reduced residents to one- or two-day-a-week outdoor watering in response to the MWD’s order beginning June 1.