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Cities In California Conserved A Lot Of Water In May

The decrease in water usage comes from statewide mandatory water cuts that Gov. Jerry Brown put in place.
Rich Pedroncelli
/
AP
The decrease in water usage comes from statewide mandatory water cuts that Gov. Jerry Brown put in place.

Cities in drought-plagued California took water conservation seriously in May. Residential water use went down by 28.9 percent in May, accordingto a press release from the State Water Resources Control Board.

"The numbers tell us that more Californians are stepping up to help make their communities more water secure, which is welcome news in the face of this dire drought," said State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus, in the press release. "That said, we need all Californians to step up — and keep it up — as if we don't know when it will rain and snow again, because we don't. If the drought continues beyond this year, we'll all be glad we did."

The Associated Press reports that certain parts of the state saved more than others:

"The southern coast, which includes Los Angeles and San Diego, conserved 25 percent in May after months of tepid savings. Sacramento and its surrounding suburbs were the state's top performer, cutting water use nearly 40 percent."

In May, the LA Times wrote that, statewide, Californians only used 8.6 percent less water than they did last summer.

You can read more of our coverage on the drought here.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Lucy Perkins is an editor and also reports on federal government and elections for the Government and Accountability team. Before joining the WESA newsroom, she was an NPR producer in Washington, D.C., working on news programs like All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. You can reach her at lperkins@wesa.fm.