Californians are continuing to use more water, state drought regulators said Tuesday, with residents of Folsom and Granite Bay among those who\u2019ve ramped up their consumption the most.<\/p>\n
The State Water Resources Control Board announced that urban consumption grew by 8 percent in September compared with a year ago. It was the fourth straight month of higher consumption <\/a>now that strict conservation mandates have been relaxed. Water districts used about 170 billion gallons of water, an increase of 13 billion gallons compared with September 2015, the agency said.<\/p>\n In its announcement, the state board pointed to six urban agencies that experienced \u201csharp reductions in conservation,\u201d including two in Greater Sacramento \u2013 the city of Folsom and the San Juan Water District. Folsom\u2019s usage rose 25 percent in September compared with a year ago. Consumption in the San Juan district, which includes Granite Bay, grew by 29 percent. By contrast, consumption in the city of Sacramento grew by 8 percent, matching the statewide average.<\/p>\n Californians managed to conserve 18.3 percent in September compared with 2013, the baseline established by state officials. But a year ago, when statewide conservation regulations were in place, the savings rate was a more robust 26.2 percent.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, we\u2019re happy to see millions of Californians and many water agencies continue significant conservation,\u201d said board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus in a prepared statement. \u201cConversely, we\u2019re concerned to see some agencies return to using hundreds of gallons per person per day while saving little. \u2026 We need to keep conserving.\u201d<\/p>\n More at SacBee.com<\/a> >>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Californians are continuing to use more water, state drought regulators said Tuesday, with residents of Folsom and Granite Bay among those who\u2019ve ramped up their consumption the most. The State Water Resources Control Board announced that urban consumption grew by 8 percent in September compared with a year ago. It was the fourth straight month … Continue reading Folsom, Granite Bay among those called out for dramatic increase in water use<\/span>