Bar Lowered on Water Conservation During Drought

State-imposed water conservation targets are mostly a thing of the past in San Joaquin County — and much of California — after water providers determined they have enough supply to scrape through another three years of drought. This doesn’t mean the drought is over, of course, and residents must still abide by relatively new rules and watering-day restrictions. But Tuesday’s news from the State Water Resources Control Board still represents a major relaxation of last year’s unprecedented crackdown, when communities were required to save up to 36 percent.