California water board struggling to measure water use

Drought and watering restrictions lead to dead lawns near Sacramento. (Credit: Kevin Cortopassi, via Flickr)

California’s State Water Resources Control Board is struggling to measure the amount of water used by the state’s residents, according to Bloomberg. Officials in the Golden State are surprised that, despite longstanding water problems, there appears to be few reliable ways to measure usage.

For example, Santa Ana’s water usage was recorded by the control board as increasing more than 60 percent in May. The City of Santa Ana, meanwhile, reported that usage had only gone up 7 percent from recent year averages. The discrepancy is difficult to explain and complicates hopes of reducing water usage, with state leadership calling for a 20-percent reduction in consumption,

The control board only began collecting usage data from cities and local water districts in May. Of 440 urban water suppliers surveyed by the state, just 276 responded about their usage.

Image: Drought and watering restrictions lead to dead lawns near Sacramento. (Credit: Kevin Cortopassi, via Flickr)