Monthly urban water use data available again online
To spur public awareness and promote water conservation, the State Water Resources Control Board is once again publishing a dataset online that allows water managers, policy makers, the media and the public to monitor how water is used across California’s largest urban retail water suppliers.
The comprehensive and up-to-date dataset gleans monthly water use information from more than 400 water systems that serve approximately 95 percent of the state’s population. As the data reflect water use trends, the tracker was used to measure progress toward the state’s voluntary conservation target from 2021-2022. Users can retrieve monthly data from June 2014 on, and the tracker will be updated going forward in the middle of each month.
Among many functions, the dataset can be sorted to show each reporting water supplier’s average amount of water used per person per day and steps suppliers have taken to encourage water conservation. A corresponding dashboard allows users to explore water use trends at a county or individual water supplier level.
Since 2020, the board has required retail suppliers with more than 3,000 service connections or those that supply more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually to homes and businesses to submit monthly water production and water use reports. Small water suppliers and those that function strictly as wholesalers are not required to submit monthly reporting.
Access to accurate and timely data allows water suppliers to prepare and respond to extreme weather, which is becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change. To learn more about how the state is emphasizing efficient water use and long-term conservation goals, visit the board’s Water Conservation Portal.
