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When water use goes down, water prices go up. It’s a maddening paradox San Diegans have dealt with for the past year. When Gov. Jerry Brown last year ordered Californians to use 25 percent less water, water agencies saw their sales plunge and holes open up in their balance sheets. So they raised rates. Short showers, brown lawns and dirty cars were rewarded with stubbornly high bills.The state recently relaxed those water rules because rain and snow this winter refilled rivers and reservoirs.

When I walk around my neighborhood, it’s clear that a new level of commitment to water-use efficiency has taken hold at the grassroots level. About half the homes around me have upgraded from conventional turf-based landscapes to attractive, low-water landscapes that are more appropriate for the climate of San Diego County. I see the same phenomenon across the county; residents and businesses are making the most of our water supplies like never before. In fact, we collectively use nearly 40 percent less potable water per capita today than we did in 1990.

State officials will continue closely watching water conservation efforts this summer after statewide savings dropped in June – although some still praised the 21.5 percent savings. Water districts in Orange County largely mirrored the state’s trends, with overall water usage climbing. State Water Resources Control Board leaders released new data Tuesday showing June’s water conservation was several percentage points less than May (28 percent) and less than June 2015 (27.5 percent). The state uses 2013 as a base year for comparison. In all, the state saved 46.6 billion gallons of water in June, compared with 60.6 billion gallons in June 2015, according to the figures.

Californians conserved less water in June, the first month after statewide mandates were eased and control over drought restrictions returned to local water agencies, officials said Tuesday.

The State Water Resources Control Board reported that Californians used 21.5 percent less water in June than they did in 2013, a drop of 6 percentage points from a year earlier and nearly 7 percentage points from May.

A dip in conservation was expected after the statewide mandate was eased, and conservation overall remained high, said Felicia Marcus, water board chairwoman.

 

Dave Edwards has hiked in the Santa Monica Mountains for decades, but the view has changed in the past few years. Hundreds, if not thousands, of trees have died, leaving hillsides with gray and brown patches. Five years of drought has shortchanged trees on water and nutrients. Trees dried out and insects moved in. “It’s not just in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s all over the state,” said Edwards, a volunteer with the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council. “I have never seen it like this.”