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<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThese regulations have helped Californians rise to the occasion and show what they can do with conservation, while providing flexibility based on differing local water supply conditions across the state,\u201d said Chair Felicia Marcus. \u201cWe are beyond happy that water conditions continue to improve this year, but the rainy season isn\u2019t over yet and some areas of the state
\ncontinue to suffer significant drought impacts. As glorious as the first half of the season has been, we know that weather can change quickly, and vary depending on where you are, so it is most prudent to wait a bit longer until close of the rainy season to take stock of the statewide situation and decide what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n
While many parts of the state have benefited from this year\u2019s rain and snow, other areas continue to experience the effects of drought, including Central Valley communities that still depend on water tanks and bottled water. Groundwater, the source of at least a third of California\u2019s water supplies, remains significantly depleted in many areas. California has undergone more than five years of extreme drought with significant impacts to communities, agriculture, and fish and wildlife.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s decision maintains existing conservation rules, which transitioned away from specific state-mandated conservation standards last May for urban water suppliers that could demonstrate they have enough water reserves to withstand an additional three dry years. The majority of suppliers passed this \u201cstress test\u201d and have not been subject to state conservation mandates. Under the extended regulation, urban water suppliers that didn\u2019t take or didn\u2019t pass the \u201cstress test\u201d and have been subject to state-set standards are given an opportunity to update their analysis. <\/p>\n
Today\u2019s extension also keeps in place monthly reporting of water use by urban water agencies, and reasonable prohibitions against wasteful practices such as watering lawns within 48 hours of a rainstorm, hosing off sidewalks and driveways, or overwatering landscaping to the point where water runs into the streets. Prohibitions also remain against homeowners associations taking action against homeowners trying to conserve during a declared drought, and those prohibitions are extended to cities and municipalities. The rules had been set to expire Feb. 28.<\/p>\n
The Board also heard a report today on the statewide water savings for December 2016, which
\nwas 20.6 percent compared with water use in December 2013, an increase from both
\nNovember 2016\u2019s 18.9 percent savings and December 2015\u2019s 18.2 percent statewide savings.
\nCumulative statewide savings for June 2015 through December 2016 remains at 22.5 percent.
\nSince June 2015, 2.43 million acre-feet of water have been saved \u2014 enough to supply more
\nthan 12 million people, close to a third of the state\u2019s population, for a year. For more
\ninformation, see the fact sheet found here.<\/p>\n
For more information on the regulation extension, please see the fact sheet found here. While water supplies have improved in many areas, the state\u2019s five-year drought has underscored the need for permanent improvements in California\u2019s long-term efficient water use and drought preparedness, as called for in Governor Brown\u2019s May 2016 Executive Order, which set in motion new programs to make water conservation a way of life in California. As a result of that order, the State Water Board and other State agencies released a draft plan that shifts from statewide mandatory water restrictions toward a set of long-term water-use efficiency standards that reflect California\u2019s diverse climate, landscape, and demographic conditions. The plan also calls for permanently prohibiting wasteful practices, regular reporting by water suppliers, tightening up leaky systems, and strengthening plans for water shortages. These actions will help to ensure all communities have sufficient water supplies and are conserving water regardless of the conditions of any one year.<\/p>\n
To learn about all the actions the state has taken to manage our water system and cope with the impacts of the drought, visitDrought.CA.Gov. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sacramento, CA…Yesterday the State Water Resources Control Board extended its existing water conservation regulations, which prohibit wasteful practices such as watering lawns right after rain and set a conservation mandate only for water suppliers that do not have enough water reserves to withstand three more dry years. \u201cThese regulations have helped Californians rise to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1599,"featured_media":33420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/waterboards_logo_high_res.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}