The San Francisco Bay Area is far behind Southern California in reusing water. Policy experts say it could take decades for the state’s second-most populous region to catch up — the lower half of the state recycled 83% more water than the Bay Area last year.

Standing outside Google’s Bay View campus in Mountain View in early August, wearing a pool-blue collared shirt and a gray blazer, California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot pressed the state’s northern region to do more.

“If you spend time in Orange County, there’s a chance that you’re consuming purified water that’s been recycled,” he said. “We need to expand water recycling throughout the Bay Area.”