In response to California Governor Jerry Browns' executive order to reduce water use statewide by 25 percent, The New York Times took a dive into the question of how much water Californians really use. What's the difference between, say, SF and Marin, or the Bay Area and Los Angeles?
Their sources were the California Water Resources Control Board, David Sunding at Berkeley, and the Pacific Institute. And their findings: "While many towns have reduced consumption in recent months, residents in nearly a fifth of water districts used more than 100 gallons a day in January."
So, there are outliers driving up consumption. But San Francisco has been pretty good! "San Francisco residents are among the states lowest users," writes the Times, "partly because of aggressive conservation efforts, but also because the city has a cool climate and multifamily housing units without a lot of landscaping."
No, that doesn't mean its time to slack — you'll still have to request water in restaurants if you'd like it, and we'll still face some serious changes as we shoot for reductions. Here's the breakdown in the area.
SF: 45 daily gallons per capita
East Bay: 57 daily gallons per capita
Marin: 65 daily gallons per capita
Daly City: 54 daily gallons per capita
Looking around the state a bit: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power district consumes 70 daily gallons per capita, and in areas like like the Coachella Valley, that statistic can be as high as 238 daily gallons per capita.
Previously: California Drought: Governor Orders First-Ever Water Restrictions