Per person water use drops to 35-year low in SoCal

Southern California residents reduced using potable water by 45% since 1990, which is a noteworthy accomplishment for conservation efforts, the Metropolitan Water District announced Thursday.

The region used a record-low 114 gallons per person per day during fiscal year 2023-24, down from 209 gallons in 1990, according to an MWD annual report.

The state agency touted its $750 million investment in recycling and groundwater-replenishing initiatives and nearly $1 billion allocated for conservation rebates and programs.

Officials also credited the significant water use decline to sustained conservation practices that were in place during the last drought in addition to a cooler, wetter winter last year.

“California has always had variability in how much rain and snow it gets from year to year; that variability is only going to become more extreme with climate change,” Metropolitan Water District Board Chair Adán Ortega said in a statement. “By becoming more water efficient, we’re less stressed by the drought years.”

In the last 35 years, the MWD has promoted long-term water efficiency through incentives and education such as a lawn-replacement program and rebates for smart irrigation systems.

“More than three decades ago, Metropolitan and other Southern California water agencies made a commitment to increase water reliability in Southern California by helping residents and businesses become more water efficient and by investing in more local water supplies,” MWD Interim General Manager Deven Upadhyay said in a statement. “The reduction in water use highlighted today is the culmination of those efforts, and a measure of the success when programs, people, and purpose come together.”

To encourage efficiency, in March 2023 the MWD started a tree-related incentive as part of its turf-replacement program with a $100 rebate per tree planted to increase the region’s tree canopy.

District funds have also gone toward an advertising and media outreach campaign to raise awareness of Southern California’s water issues and challenges, as well as to emphasize the importance conserving water.

The MWD also highlighted the priority to increase the local water supply. Currently the region has a record 3.8 million acre-feet of water in reservoirs and groundwater banks.

The agency intends to increase the water supply through projects such as the recycling program Pure Water Southern California and the planned High Desert Water Bank, a groundwater storage facility in the Antelope Valley.

The MWD “is a state-established cooperative that, along with its 26 cities and retail suppliers, provides water for 19 million people in six counties,” according to the agency. The district oversees deliveries of water from the Colorado River and Northern California to augment local supplies and assists municipal members to develop water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

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