Californians Are Saving More Water

Sacramento, CA – For the second time this year, Governor Gavin Newsom convened local water leaders to call for continued action to drive down water use and help Californians make permanent changes to adapt to a hotter and drier future.

Preliminary data based on 95 percent of the population show that Californians reduced their water use by 7.5 percent in June this year compared to June 2020. At Friday’s meeting, the Governor again urged water suppliers to continue local efforts to cut back water usage in the face of limited supplies due to extreme heat and dry weather. He also asked water agencies and associations to think beyond immediate water conservation needs as the state – and the entire West – navigates a hotter and drier environment driven by climate change.

“We are dealing with a changed climate in California that demands we reimagine not just how we use water, but how we capture, store and distribute it throughout the state,” said Governor Newsom. “We are heading in the right direction, but we need local water providers to do more to not only save water but to help the state manage and increase supply as rain and snowfall become less reliable.”

The first meeting was in May when water usage data showed Californians were using more water, despite requests to cut back. At that meeting, Governor Newsom called on water agencies to step up efforts to reduce water use amid extreme drought conditions. Since then, every urban area in California has enacted plans to reduce water use. In June, a statewide watering ban on non-functional turf in commercial and industrial settings took effect. The ban is expected to save between 156,000 and 260,000 acre-feet per year, the equivalent of the water used by 780,000 households in a year.

The state provided these water-saving actions for Californians to take immediately to avoid a crisis, including:

• Limiting outdoor watering – cutting back by even just one day a week can save you up to 20 percent more water.
• Taking shorter showers. Going to a 5-minute shower to save up to 12.5 gallons per shower when using a water-efficient shower head.
• Taking showers instead of baths – a bath uses up to 2.5 times the amount of water as a shower.
• Using a broom instead of a hose to clean outdoor areas to save 6 gallons of water every minute.
• Washing full loads of laundry to save 15-45 gallons of water per load.

More water-saving tips can be found by clicking here.