The San Diego County Water Authority and its member agencies have enough water to meet demands, even during three additional dry years, and won’t be subject to state-mandated water-use reductions through January 2017, according to data the water authority has submitted to state regulators.

Of course, that’s welcome news. It shows that the region’s investments in a safe and reliable water supply over the past 25 years are paying off in tangible ways.

 

Water suppliers are loosening water-use restrictions and reporting they’ll have enough water to meet demand for the next three years.

But is that a good idea in the midst of ongoing drought?

While the end of the state’s mandated water conservation targets is intended to give agencies more flexibility, some experts worry customers are being sent the message it’s no longer vital to conserve.

Water officials expect people to keep conserving after suppliers were allowed to set their own water conservation goals for the rest of 2016.

In May, the month when state officials said they would ease up on a year-old water conservation plan, consumers used less water than they did three years before.

For the month, water consumption statewide was down 28 percent from May of 2013, according to data released Wednesday by the state.

The period tracked in May includes a nearly three-week stretch after the May 9 announcement from state water officials that they would let many districts, including most in Orange County, switch from mandatory to voluntary water cuts.

San Diegans, and California residents in general, stepped up water conservation efforts in May, state water officials reported Wednesday.
Nearly all of the two dozen local water agencies in San Diego County posted large reductions in use compared to the same month in 2013, which the state uses as a benchmark.
The largest of the local water agencies, the city of San Diego, saw usage decline by 22.6 percent in May even though there wasn’t much rain after the first week of the month. Cumulatively since June 2015, water use in the city is down 18.4 percent.

Residents and businesses statewide, including those in San Diego County, continued to save water aggressively as officials began moving forward with loosening emergency conservation standards. Regulators on Wednesday released their analysis of water consumption in May, the most recent month for verified data. Their reports are issued monthly as part of a program created in response to California’s historic drought, which is deep into its fifth straight year. Water use in May was 28.2 percent lower than during the same month in 2013 — Gov. Jerry Brown’s benchmark time period for his conservation mandate, which took effect in June of last year.