California Urban Water Use Increases Month-Over-Month, Despite Dwindling Snowpack, Lingering Drought
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - California's urban water use increased during this past dry January compared with December, and the latest snowpack survey was far below normal for the third year in a row.
Chair of the State Water Resources Control Board Felicia Marcus said residents are falling far short of the twenty percent year over year conservation goal set by Governor Jerry Brown.
"We had reached a height of twenty two percent month-over-month year-over-year, December 2013 to 2014 then we dropped back down as an average to around eight percent which was a little disheartening," Marcus said.
Statewide outdoor use accounts for half of household use. People turned their sprinklers off for the wet December, but turned them back on for the dry January.
The snowpack survey Tuesday found a snowpack water equivalent of just 0.9 inches in the snowpack near Echo Summit, about 90 miles east of Sacramento.
