This is not a good time to be an umbrella merchant in California.<\/p>\n
2013 was one of the driest years on record in the state. And January \u00a0\u2013 usually among the wettest months \u2014 has failed to provide any relief. With the precipitous drop in reservoir levels, Gov. Jerry Brown recently declared a statewide drought emergency, calling this\u00a0\u201cperhaps the worst drought California has ever seen since records began being kept about 100 years ago,\u201d<\/p>\n
The declaration outlines 20 different drought condition measures, one of which calls for the Department of Water Resources to execute a statewide conservation campaign, urging residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 20 percent.<\/p>\n
But that begs two important questions: how much water does the average Californian actually consume and what would a 20 percent reduction look like?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a hard figure to quantify, and estimates vary widely. For one, while indoor residential water use is relatively steady throughout the state, outdoor use \u2014 primarily for landscape irrigation \u2014 varies dramatically, with homes in arid inland regions consuming significantly more water than those in coastal areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are large variations across the state,\u201d notes Peter Bostrom from the California Department of Water Resources. \u201cOutdoor use could be 25 percent [of a household’s use] in Santa Cruz \u00a0and 80 percent is Coachella \u2026\u00a015\u00a0percent\u00a0of users account for 60 percent of overuse in landscape irrigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, estimates are typically represented as gallons per capita per day (gcpd), in which water use in each of the state\u2019s 10 hydraulic regions is divided by population (see map at right). These calculations, however, generally factor in each region\u2019s total water consumption, which includes residential water use as well as commercial and industrial uses.<\/p>\n
Among the best ways to get a handle on your own household\u2019s water consumption is by scrutinizing your water bill, which usually includes the number of gallons used that month. Additionally, a new\u00a0state website<\/a> provides a calculator for estimating your personal water.<\/p>\n An often-cited 2011\u00a0study\u00a0of California single-family water consumption estimated that the average California household used more than 360 gallons of water per day. To put that in perspective, the typical office water cooler holds 5 gallons, or about 1.4 percent of the study\u2019s estimated daily average household use. Given that figure, the average house in California would need to use 72 fewer gallons a day to meet the 20 percent reduction goal.<\/p>\n More at KQED.org<\/a> >>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is not a good time to be an umbrella merchant in California. 2013 was one of the driest years on record in the state. And January \u00a0\u2013 usually among the wettest months \u2014 has failed to provide any relief. With the precipitous drop in reservoir levels, Gov. Jerry Brown recently declared a statewide drought … Continue reading How Much Water Do Californians Use And What Does A 20 Percent Cut Look Like?<\/span>