Building on lessons learned from prior droughts, a new statewide regulation and the resolve of Californians, the state is deploying conservation — even in non-drought years — as a key strategy to ensure long-term water security.
For more information, contact Nick Cahill
With nearly 40 million residents, farms that produce half of all U.S. produce and an increasingly volatile climate, California’s prosperity as the world’s fourth largest economy is directly linked to its ability to stretch its water supplies.
Rarely do you have to go back too far to find drought in California. Over the last 15 years alone, Californians have lived through some of the hottest and driest stretches on record, including two statewide emergency drought declarations (2012–16, 2021–22).
And right now, drought conditions that have persisted for more than 20 years are worsening in the Colorado River Basin, threatening the source of approximately 25% of Southern California’s drinking water supply.
Droughts can deplete drinking water supplies, cause crop failures, harm aquatic ecosystems, limit hydroelectric power generation, and increase wildfire activity. They also come with severe economic repercussions: In 2022, drought conditions caused an estimated loss of $1.7 billion in revenue for California’s agricultural industry.
Though they have always been a natural and recurring feature of California’s climate, droughts now happen more frequently and last longer because of climate change. Over the next 20 years, experts predict California could lose up to 10% of its water supply due to a hotter, drier climate, making conservation more vital than ever.
In a testament to their resolve, Californians have continually withstood drought by banding together to decrease water use and by learning to thrive with less. But with climate change increasing the pace and severity of extreme weather, the Legislature decided in 2018, after the punishing 2012–16 drought, that the state could no longer rely on this resolve alone and wait until the next drought arrived to act.
Californians answered the call
After an April 2015 Sierra Nevada snow survey came up dry, Californians were asked to make unprecedented emergency water cutbacks. In typical fashion, they embraced the moment.
In June through October 2015, statewide water conservation was 27% compared to 2013 water use levels, exceeding the state’s 25% target. Overall, Californians saved enough water to nearly fill Folsom Lake, outside Sacramento.
“We learned during that bitter drought that efficiency pays dividends, and to Californians’ credit, they have remained deliberate at the tap even during wet years,” said James Nachbaur, director of the board’s Office of Research, Planning and Performance.
Water saving habits utilized during the 2012–16 drought have undoubtedly carried over; collectively, suppliers are reporting about 17% less water use per person compared to 2013 levels.
Setting water efficiency standards
With the hardships and severity of the 2012–16 drought a recent memory, the Legislature in 2018 adopted the Making Conservation a California Way of Life framework to establish long-term practices to help water suppliers and communities adapt to water challenges on an ongoing basis.
In 2024, the State Water Board adopted a nation-leading regulation to implement the framework and to reinforce the state’s already strong conservation ethic by promoting more efficient water use by large water utilities across California.
The regulation, which applies to water suppliers and not to individual households or businesses, establishes long-term standards for efficient water use and may ease or delay emergency water saving measures during drought. In 2025, suppliers began submitting progress reports to the board and in 2027 they will need to start complying with their individualized water use objectives, or budgets.
“The regulation is a new way to manage water use in California communities, and we’re encouraged that water suppliers have been diligently reporting their data,” said Karina Herrera, who manages the board’s conservation unit. “The majority of suppliers are already meeting their budgets and are on the right track to continue meeting them as the standards become more efficient over time.”
See how your water system is progressing toward its conservation goals with the board’s new transparency tool.