Californians are using less water, but conservation falters in Valley
Officials say Californians are using less water than they have in years, thanks partly to winter rains that are watering their lawns for them.
The Water Resources Control Board said Tuesday that the average Californian used just 58.1 gallons of water a day in January. That’s the lowest residential use since the state started tracking water use in summer 2014.
In the central San Joaquin Valley, the average daily per-person water use among 20 agencies that reported was 64.6 gallons. But usage varied. Fresno’s per capita daily use was 82.6 gallons while Clovis reported 73.6 gallons per person, per day. Madera’s per capita use was 45.5 gallons a day.
California is in the middle of one of its wettest winters in decades, but remains under a drought emergency. Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to review the drought declaration sometime after the rain ends.
Water board chairwoman Felicia Marcus says she’s encouraged Californians are continuing to conserve water despite full reservoirs. Californians have saved enough water under the drought declaration to supply one-third of residential needs for a year.
Valley water use
Most Valley water agencies reported water savings in January were less than in January 2016.
Supplier | Conservation standard | Jan. 2016 savings (vs. 2013) | Jan. 2017 savings (vs. 2013) | Jan. 2017 savings better/worse than Jan. 2016 |
Bakman Water Co. | 34% | -5.6% | 9.6% | Better |
Clovis | 0% | 16.2% | 10.5% | Worse |
Coalinga | 5% | 21.2% | 16.6% | Worse |
Dinuba | 0% | 8.1% | 18.6% | Better |
Exeter | 21% | -0.2% | -2.4% | Worse |
Fresno | 0% | 18.2% | 14.9% | Worse |
Hanford | 0% | 9.0% | 9.6% | Better |
Kerman | 0% | 24.5% | 21.0% | Worse |
Kingsburg | 0% | 33.3% | 27.6% | Worse |
Lemoore | 0% | 5.7% | 46.3% | Better |
Los Banos | 24% | 6.0% | 6.2% | Better |
Madera | 0% | 4.5% | 7.3% | Better |
Merced | 0% | 25.0% | 23.6% | Worse |
Pinedale Co. Water Dist. | 14% | 25.6% | 24.8% | Worse |
Porterville | 26% | 11.5% | 9.5% | Worse |
Reedley | 0% | 16.1% | 13.1% | Worse |
Sanger | 26% | 9.2% | -3.5% | Worse |
Selma | 0% | 23.6% | 22.7% | Worse |
Tulare | 0% | 11.1% | 12.4% | Better |
Visalia | 0% | 17.5% | 10.3% | Worse |
Source: State Water Resources Control Board
This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Californians are using less water, but conservation falters in Valley."