Californians Cut Water Use By Only 9 Percent In January

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California water conservation slipped during an unusually dry January just a month after residents first met Gov. Jerry Brown's call to slash water use by 20 percent, a state agency reported Tuesday.

Urban water use declined 9 percent in January compared to the same month in 2013, a survey by the State Water Resources Control Board found. The state is urging continued conservation as California enters the fourth year of a drought.

The savings plunged from December when Californians cut water use by 22 percent, though overall consumption was roughly flat. Officials feared that month was an outlier because winter storms in December helped residential conservation by reducing the need to water lawns.

January was unseasonably dry and brought no measurable rainfall in downtown San Francisco for the first time in history.

The California Department of Water Resources also was conducting the winter's third survey of the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which has shown no signs of recovery amid the drought.

The water board report showed conservation varied widely across the state, with communities in the South Coast area scaling back 9 percent and the San Francisco Bay Area 4 percent.

The data help monitor the effectiveness of the state's emergency conservation regulations, which include a ban on washing cars uses hoses that do not have a shut-off valve and restrictions on watering lawns. The board will consider extending and expanding restrictions to hotels and restaurants later this month.

The agency is also planning to set up a statewide water waste hotline by summer for residents to report excessive sprinklers and leaks.

Some agencies complained that the water use numbers don't reflect long-time conservation efforts. The report shows Los Angeles monthly water use dropped only 1 percent compared to 2013, but the city says consumption has fallen by 22 percent since 2007.

State water board officials say Californians must adapt to permanent dry conditions and assess their conservation based on water use in 2013, when the drought reached a critical point.

For the Sierra snowpack, surveys in December and January found a below-normal snowpack.

Measurements at an elevation of about 6,800 feet about 90 miles east of Sacramento will begin Tuesday morning, with results expected by early afternoon.

Recent electronic readings have revealed a trend of declining water content in the snowpack this wet season. The statewide water content on Thursday was just 19 percent of the historical average for the date, the department said.

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