SACRAMENTO – (INT) - As the State continues to experience near-record and record hot conditions, increasing the severity of the drought’s effects on communities, agriculture and the environment, California’s urban water suppliers reported the highest level of conservation achieved to date for the month of May.

The State Water Resources Control Board announced Wednesday that statewide residential water use declined 28.9 percent in May, the steepest drop since Governor Jerry Brown called on all Californians to conserve water in the face of limited supplies.

“The numbers tell us that more Californians are stepping up to help make their communities more water secure, which is welcome news in the face of this dire drought,” said State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus. “That said, we need all Californians to step up--and keep it up--as if we don’t know when it will rain and snow again, because we don’t. If the drought continues beyond this year, we’ll all be glad we did.”

Enforcement and compliance statistics reported for the month of May also indicate that water suppliers are following up on water waste complaints and issuing formal warnings and penalties against alleged violators.

Complaints are a very important tool for identifying leaks and overwatering that could go undetected for weeks resulting in millions of gallons of wasted water.

This latest information comes ahead of the June reporting period, the first month that the new statewide conservation standards are in effect and measured. Encouraged by the newest data, State Water Board officials called on all Californians to continue conserving as the drought persists and further reduce their water use in the critical summer months of June, July, August and beyond.

The Board remains cautiously optimistic, acknowledging that rain in some parts of the state during May likely contributed to the higher conservation rate.

The conservation mandate leaves it up to locals to decide where to conserve, but encourages water suppliers to focus on reducing outdoor irrigation because it can account for up to 80 percent of residential water use in hotter climates and is easy to do.

May’s top performers

“It is clear from this report that many communities have made a commitment as Californians to scale back outdoor watering and conserve, and the effort shows,” said Marcus. “The hot summer months are here. Californians are creative. We can fix the leaks, let the lawn go brown, and take shorter showers while using just enough water to save trees and prevent disease.”

“We urge other communities that are not meeting their conservation standards to join communities like Fresno and San Jose in water conservation leadership,” said Marcus. “Collectively, we can do this.”

Dozens of communities achieved conservation levels of upwards of, and more than 30 percent in May 2015. Some of the stand out communities include: California Water Service-Bakersfield (37 percent), Serrano Water District (Orange County, 43 percent), Lake Hemet Municipal Water District (Riverside County, 49 percent), Town of Hillsborough (San Mateo County, 49 percent), and Sacramento Suburban Water District (45 percent), San Jose Water Company (36 percent), City of San Diego (26 percent), City of Riverside (30 percent) and Cucamonga Valley Water District (35 percent).

May highlights

• The amount of water saved by the State’s large urban water suppliers increased from 13.6 percent in April to approximately 28.9 percent in May, in same-month water use comparisons of 2015 to 2013. The year 2013 serves as the baseline for determining water savings statewide. The cumulative statewide percent reduction for June 2014- May 2015 (12 months) is 11 percent.

• The statewide residential gallons per capita per day (R-GPCD) for May 2015 was 87.5 gallons, a decrease compared the April 2015 statewide average R-GPCD of 90.5 gallons.

• Between June 2014 and May 2015, approximately 237.3 billion gallons (728,136 acre-feet) of water were saved, as compared to the same time period for the year prior. This is enough water to supply approximately 2.38 million Californians for one year.

Story Date: July 4, 2015