As California’s severe water drought continues to intensify, water conservation efforts are vital in repairing the damages.
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For those who have been living in California, it may seem like the state has been in a forever drought. With constant reminders to conserve water, why are we still struggling?
According to State Water Resources Control Board director of research, planning and performance, James Nachbaur, most of the water we use goes to landscaping.
JAMES NACHBAUR: Most use by households, by families relates to outdoor water use. You know, people own houses, for example, they may be spending much more water keeping their landscaping healthy than they are spending you using water inside, like for drinking or for bathing or for cleaning. And so any efforts to increase efficiency of water use in any of those uses would be helpful, but it’s often easiest and least disruptive to to shift landscapes to use less water.
In order to reduce the amount of wasted water, the State Government has enforced new policies and legislation to conserve water. However, it hasn’t been enough.
NACHBAUR: the cumulative the water savings in California, looking back over the past few months has been about a six percent savings, and that’s that’s been that’s been good, that’s been promising, but it’s it’s less of a savings than we had wanted. The governor had actually called for a 15 percent reduction in water use last year, and we’re not there yet, which is why it’s really important that people continue to look for ways to use water more efficiently.
Water conservation efforts are impossible without a combined endeavor. Andrew Schwartz, a lead scientist at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab, says that people have the power to decide how quickly the drought ends.
ANDREW SCHWARTZ: we are the ones that have control over how much water we use, and that ultimately will result in how much we have left in our stores. We can’t control the precipitation and the weather patterns to make it rain or snow on us. We can only control how much we use, so that’s something that we can all do every day.
Even you can do your part to conserve water by making conscious efforts to avoid water waste in your daily life.
SCHWARTZ: There is absolutely something that everyday people can be doing, and that’s just water conservation and and water restrictions. You know, none of us like to make conscious decisions about our water use.
While we can hope for the best when it comes to drought conditions, it certainly doesn’t hurt to prepare for the worst.
Correction (Apr. 14): A previous version referred to James Nachbaur as a board member of the State Water Resources Control Board.