California cut its urban water use by 22.2 percent in October, the first time the state has failed to meet its monthly goal of 25 percent since emergency drought regulations were implemented earlier this year.
That effort was well below the 26 percent reduction the state achieved in September, according to a statement released Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board.
Still, because the state conserved so much water during the summer, the state has cut its water use by 27.1 percent since Gov. Jerry Brown ordered mandatory cuts in water use earlier this year.
Brown’s goal was to reduce water consumption by at least 25 percent. To achieve that, water board assigned conservation standards to each of the state’s 400-plus urban water suppliers.