Wet March helped residents conserve water
The 24.3 percent cut in state water use was best since September
Californians cut water use 24.3 percent in March, the largest savings in any month since last September, state officials announced Tuesday.
The water savings came largely because El Niño storms soaked much of the state throughout that month, particularly Northern California, filling reservoirs and prompting homeowners to shut off their lawn sprinklers.
“This is the most welcome news we’ve had in a long time,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, which releases the monthly conservation data for more than 400 cities, water districts and private water companies.
Although the drought emergency is largely over now in Northern California, hotter weather is already here, and scientists are forecasting a 71 percent chance of La Niña conditions by November, which could mean dry weather next winter.
Since last June, when the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown first imposed mandatory water conservation targets on urban areas to address the state’s historic drought, California’s urban residents have reduced water consumption by 23.9 percent overall during the 10-month period, compared with the same months in 2013, the baseline year.
Last June, Brown had set a goal of 25 percent.
In March, the Bay Area reduced water use 25 percent compared to March 2013, and the South Coast region — mostly Los Angeles and San Diego — cut by 20.7 percent, while the Sacramento region cut by 36.7 percent.
Because of the winter rains, which gave Northern California its wettest winter in five years, the state water board is scheduled to vote May 18 on changes to the conservation rules. The board is widely expected to relax or drop entirely the rules for Northern California, although it may keep in place some targets for Southern California.
The difference is largely due to rainfall. Many cities in the north this winter rain season have so far received about 100 percent of their historic average rainfall. San Jose on Tuesday was at 102 percent, San Francisco 101, Oakland 84, Stockton 124, Sacramento 91 and Redding 118. But the storms largely missed Southern California. Los Angeles on Tuesday, for example, had only received 54 percent, while San Diego was at 74 percent and Palm Springs was at 56 percent.
The snowpack in the northern Sierra was also greater than in the southern Sierra.
As a result, major reservoirs in the north, like Shasta and Oroville are near full, while reservoirs farther south, like Diamond Valley in Riverside County, and Millerton, near Fresno, were 43 and 57 percent full, respectively, on Tuesday.
The Bay Area could get a little rain later this week, with a slight chance of showers Thursday and Friday before warm, dry conditions return next week. “The real trick will be getting people to hold the line in the warmer, drier months,” Marcus said. “If you don’t love your lawn, you ought to lose it, and if you do love your lawn you ought to put it on a diet.”