Merced, Los Banos meet water-savings goals in March

Water districts across California posted big conservation savings in March, aided in large part by cool, wet weather, the State Water Resources Control Board reported Tuesday.

In Merced County, the cities of Merced and Los Banos met their their water-saving goals for the month; Livingston remained a dozen points short of its objective.

Merced and Los Banos residents used about 36 percent less water in March than during the same month in 2013, while Livingston reduced its water use by 17 percent. Atwater did not report its water usage for the first three months of the year by the deadline, according to state water board records.

Statewide, water use fell 24 percent.

“While some parts of the state saw rain and snow, other parts, specifically the Central Valley and Southern California, didn’t; and yet, all Californians stepped up again to conserve water, because they know they can and that it is good for California,” board chair Felicia Marcus said in a statement.

“Twenty-four percent in March is a stunningly welcome number. As we head into the warmer summer months, we need to keep conserving. We may not need the same levels of conservation as last year, but we still need to keep all we can in our reservoirs and groundwater basins in case this winter is just a punctuation mark in a longer drought.”

Merced was under a mandate to reduce its water use by 34 percent compared to 2013. For the first three months of 2016, Merced has saved a cumulative of 37 percent. While Los Banos surpassed its 24 percent savings target for the month, its cumulative savings fell just short, coming in at 23.5 percent. Livingston’s target of 29 percent is still far from its cumulative savings record of 16.8 percent for the first quarter.

California water districts still must conserve or face financial penalties. The water board recently adopted amended standards for urban districts that lowered the statewide conservation target to 20 percent, down from 25 percent, compared with the same months in 2013. The mandates vary by city, with bigger per capita users targeted for bigger cuts. The water board will consider further easing of the conservation rules later this month.

The state’s two largest Northern California reservoirs are holding more water than normal for this time of year, but much of Southern California remains in extreme drought.

The sharp declines in March water use followed several months in which many communities failed to hit their conservation targets.

“This is the most welcome news we’ve had in a long time,” Marcus told reporters. “This says something about (attitudes toward) the lawn, because in the rain people know to turn off their sprinklers.”

March is typically a buffer month between winter and spring when residents are just starting to turn on sprinklers. This year, Merced saw 4.28 inches of rain in March. In 2013, by comparison, Merced saw 0.86 inches of rain, according to the University of California Cooperative Extension. Los Banos recorded 2.04 inches of rain in March, compared to 0.85 inches in the same month of 2013.

Parts of Southern California saw below-average precipitation in March and did not save as much water. The South Coast hydrological region, which includes Los Angeles and San Diego, posted 21 percent water savings in March compared with 2013. The Colorado River hydrological region, which includes much of the Inland Empire, reported 18 percent savings.

“The real trick is to keep people saving as we get into the warmer months,” Marcus said. “If you don’t love your lawn, you ought to lose it. If you do love your lawn, you ought to put it on on a diet.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Merced, Los Banos meet water-savings goals in March."