‘Backsliding.’ California mostly ignores Newsom’s plea to conserve water during drought

Californians are still lagging behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s drought-emergency plea to use less water.

Urban residents reduced water consumption by just 3.9% in September, compared with a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board. The August figure was a slightly better 5.1%.

The water board’s chairman, E. Joaquin Esquivel, said he was disappointed with the “backsliding” and added: “It’s not the news that I think we were all wanting to see.”

In July, as part of a drought declaration, Newsom called on urban residents to voluntarily cut water consumption by 15%. He’s declined to issue a mandatory water-rationing order, as his predecessor Jerry Brown did during the last drought in 2015. However, his top aides have said mandatory cutbacks could come next year if this winter produces dry weather.

The Sacramento area conservation figures were worse than the statewide average: Residents used 2% less water in September compared with the year before, according to the Sacramento Regional Water Authority.

“We were not surprised by September water use figures,” said Christine Kohn, a spokeswoman for the regional authority, which coordinates drought efforts on behalf of 20 municipal and private water providers. “As we have mentioned, conservation can’t be turned on like a light switch, and September water use reflects a seasonal trend observed throughout the last drought.”

Some parts of the region did better than others, but still missed Newsom’s target. The city of Sacramento used 10% less water in September; the cities of Folsom and Roseville, and the Carmichael Water District each saw consumption drop nearly 8%.

The regional authority announced Wednesday that October’s conservation numbers in Sacramento were considerably better: 17% compared with the year before. It didn’t break out data for individual agencies.

Kohn credited “cooler weather and a massive storm that dumped more than 5 inches of rain on Sacramento, prompting residents to turn off sprinklers completely.” The October results show “how weather and landscape water use impact the region’s overall water use patterns.”

At the statewide level, Esquivel urged Californians to do better at responding to the drought.

“Conservation is our strongest tool,” he said during a water board hearing.

This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 2:16 PM.