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The two water districts that serve Encinitas both fell short of their conservation mandates in November, and cumulative savings are below their goals.

 

Residents in the San Dieguito Water District cut back 9.2 percent in November, bringing the district’s cumulative reduction over six months to 20.6 percent, according to a recently released report from the State Water Resources Control Board. The state has mandated that the district slash 28 percent.

 

Due to the crippling drought, California in June began requiring that water agencies conserve. The mandate is scheduled to expire in February, but could be extended.

November marked the second month in a row that Californians failed to meet the governor’s emergency water conservation order amid a historic drought.

 

Regulators announced Tuesday that residents used an average of 20.3 percent less water in November when compared with the same month in 2013, the baseline year for Gov. Jerry Brown’s mandate. His benchmark is a minimum savings of 25 percent.

California water conservation

 

The program began June 1 and is scheduled to last through February, with some type of extension eyed for much of the rest of this year.

There’s been a lot of progress at the Salton Sea in the last year, but local officials and activists aren’t taking anything for granted.

 

In what’s becoming a regular ritual, representatives from the Imperial Irrigation District and other groups trekked to Sacramento on Tuesday to make the case for action on the Salton Sea. They urged state officials to fulfill their promise to pay for fixes at California’s largest lake, and to support geothermal energy development, which many see as critical to generating restoration funds.

The state got a big financial boost in its quest to find more water sources — by recycling it.

 

The State Water Resources Control Board authorized the sale of $1.2 billion in revenue bonds Tuesday to fund additional recycled water projects. Supporters believe the money, an extension of the existing Clean Water State Revolving Fund, will help water agencies and cities build more water recycling plants, pipes and delivery facilities that will increase California’s water supply.

 

Already, the state board expects demand will increase this year, piggybacking on a 40 percent increase for project commitments in fiscal year 2014-2015.

Two-thirds of the water districts in San Diego County failed to reach their conservation goals in November, though cumulative savings since June remains strong, the state Water Resources Board reported Tuesday.

 

The area’s largest water supplier to homes and businesses — the city of San Diego — failed to meet its state-mandated target of 16 percent for the first time in November, which saw a savings of 13.8 percent compared to the same period in 2013. State water officials set water consumption totals in 2013 as the benchmark for comparisons.