San Diegans used 17 percent less water last month than in March 2013, beating the state-mandated goal of a 13 percent reduction, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Monday.

March was the first month in which lowered conservation targets were in effect. The former goal was 20 percent, but the state eased its orders for agencies in the San Diego region after the desalination plant in Carlsbad began production. Since the mandates went into effect last June, the cumulative reduction has been 21 percent, the SDCWA reported.

It was a wave-riding year for the record books. Surfers gathered in Anaheim on Saturday to celebrate this El Niño season that produced massive waves around the world and allowed big-wave surfers to make history. The Big Wave Awards, in its 16th year, celebrates an elite crop of surfers who take on building-size waves – a feat few in the world can achieve.

San Clemente’s Greg Long was crowned World Surf League Big Wave Tour Champion. It’s Long’s second time earning the title; the first was secured in 2012.

 

A quarter-century ago, San Diego and its suburbs imported 95% of their water supplies. Thanks to investments in desalination and other efforts to boost supplies, that figure has already dropped to 57% and is projected to fall to just 18% sometime in the next two decades.

San Diego has gone from being one of the most vulnerable areas of California during drought to one of the best prepared—and in so doing has become a model for the future of water use in cities.