Asking an entire state to use 25% less water may sound easy in the asking portion of an equation, but implementing such efforts and actually living up to such efforts is less than easy. It appears as though California is, at least at the start, living up to the mandate for 25% water usage cuts.

The California Water Boards issued a release on Thursday showing water use in the state was 27.7% lower in June. This may only be one month of data, but it was also the first such month where the emergency conservation regulation was actually in effect.

Another interesting feat here is that this was said to be the hottest June on record. Urban water suppliers exceeded the statewide conservation goal by saving 59.4 billion gallons versus the same time in 2013. Thursday’s report also showed that conservation efforts put the State on track to achieve the 1.2 million acre-feet savings goal by February 2016.

Additional data in the release was as follows:

• The percent of water saved by the State’s large urban water agency suppliers decreased from 29.1 percent in May to 27.3 percent in June, in same-month water use comparisons of 2015 to 2013.
• The amount of water saved in June 2015 (59.4 billion gallons) is six times more than the amount of water saved during the same month in 2014 (9.6 billion gallons), when the State’s voluntary 20 percent conservation goal was in effect.
• The June 2015 savings are 15 percent of the statewide savings goal of 1.2 million acre-feet of water needed by February 2016.
• 265 water suppliers, serving 27.2 million people met or exceeded their conservation standard. Almost 40 percent of all urban water suppliers reduced their water use by 30 percent or more.

The State Water Resources Control Board said in its release:

Californians understand the severity of the drought and they are taking action, as shown by the numbers released today. We didn’t know if the positive showing in May was due in part to cooler temperatures. This report shows that residents knew they had to keep conserving even during the summer heat and they kept the sprinklers off more than they would in a normal year. That’s the right attitude as we head into August and September heat–in the drought of the century with no certain end date.

The mandate has met some pushback and there has frequently been infighting in California when it comes to resources. Some might point out that the success of these efforts has not been universal by the end of June — 4 suppliers (1%) had not imposed mandatory irrigation restrictions; and 19 suppliers (5%) reported that they still allow outdoor watering seven days a week.

If you live outside of California, even if water is plentiful in your state – would you be able to cut your water usage by 25%? Now consider our recent report about 9 cities running out of water or the 9 states running out of water if you have trouble answering.

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