Environment
Is California water use increasing?
Produced by Aaron Mendelson & Chris Keller | Updated Sept. 7, 2016
Sources: California Water Resources Control Board. Built using: django-bakery, underscore.js, backbone.js, leaflet.js, chartist.js & Bootstrap. Circles on a line distribution charts based on CensusReporter charts, design and code created by Ryan Pitts, Joe Germuska, Ian Dees and Sara Schnadt. Icon credits: Waste icon created by Luis Prado and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution from The Noun Project. Washing Machine icon created by Megan Sheehan and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution from The Noun Project. Bucket icon created by Nithin Viswanathan and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution from The Noun Project. Water drop icon created by Diego Naive and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution from The Noun Project. Broom icon created by Anna Weiss and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution from The Noun Project. Clock icon created by Pavel Nikandrov and used via a Public Domain Mark from The Noun Project. Sprinkler icon created by Micah West and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution from The Noun Project. Cactus icon created by Edward Boatman and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution from The Noun Project. Shower icon used via a Public Domain Mark from The Noun Project.
August monthly water use by the City Of Santa Clara
- Water consumption in the City Of Santa Clara increased 2.73 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016. Overall, consumption in August has decreased 13.89 percent over the past five years.
- August 2013 471 million gallons
- August 2014 357 million gallons
- August 2015 395 million gallons
- August 2016 406 million gallons
- August 2017 357 million gallons
Displayed in millions of gallons
Average daily water consumption by each residential customer
- About 47.0% of water consumption in the City Of Santa Clara is residential. The average daily gallons used by each residential customer decreased 2.49 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
- 51.00
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
- 52.30
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
Year-over-year water consumption
- 2013 422 million gallons
- 2015 415 million gallons
- 2016 341 million gallons
- 2013 431 million gallons
- 2015 400 million gallons
- 2016 366 million gallons
- 2013 513 million gallons
- 2015 501 million gallons
- 2016 401 million gallons
- 2013 559 million gallons
- 2015 498 million gallons
- 2016 413 million gallons
- 2013 683 million gallons
- 2015 506 million gallons
- 2016 482 million gallons
- 2013 706 million gallons
- 2015 499 million gallons
- 2016 542 million gallons
- 2013 717 million gallons
- 2015 575 million gallons
- 2016 597 million gallons
- 2013 767 million gallons
- 2015 517 million gallons
- 2016 577 million gallons
- 2013 605 million gallons
- 2015 539 million gallons
- 2016 578 million gallons
- 2013 639 million gallons
- 2015 529 million gallons
- 2016 470 million gallons
- 2013 525 million gallons
- 2015 368 million gallons
- 2016 406 million gallons
- 2013 471 million gallons
- 2015 395 million gallons
- 2016 406 million gallons
Displayed in millions of gallons
2014 water use data is incomplete and therefore not displayed
Progress toward mandatory water reduction*
- City Of Santa Clara water use decreased by 22.91 percent between June 2015 and February 2016 — the nine months of the initial statewide conservation mandate — achieving a 16 percent reduction.
- 98.531
- billion gallons consumed
- over the same months in 2013.
- 75.960
- billion gallons consumed
- between June 2015 and February 2016.
*: Approved by the State Water Resources Control Board in 2015, the reduction target was meant to achieve a 25 percent reduction in water use statewide. It is tied to an average July through Sept. 2014 daily per capita residential water use rate that placed water agencies into nine tiers.
Enforcement statistics
- Selected enforcement statistics reported by the City Of Santa Clara to the State Water Resources Control Board.
| Month | Watering Days | Complaints | Follow-up Actions | Warnings Issued | Penalties Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received6 | Follow-up Actions6 | Warnings Issued6 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received11 | Follow-up Actions11 | Warnings Issued11 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received8 | Follow-up Actions8 | Warnings Issued8 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received10 | Follow-up Actions10 | Warnings Issued10 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received2 | Follow-up Actions2 | Warnings Issued2 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received5 | Follow-up Actions5 | Warnings Issued5 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received2 | Follow-up Actions2 | Warnings Issued2 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received6 | Follow-up Actions6 | Warnings Issued6 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received8 | Follow-up Actions8 | Warnings Issued8 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued1 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received6 | Follow-up Actions6 | Warnings Issued6 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received11 | Follow-up Actions11 | Warnings Issued11 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received8 | Follow-up Actions8 | Warnings Issued8 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received10 | Follow-up Actions10 | Warnings Issued10 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received9 | Follow-up Actions9 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received6 | Follow-up Actions6 | Warnings Issued6 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received17 | Follow-up Actions17 | Warnings Issued17 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received16 | Follow-up Actions16 | Warnings Issued16 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received17 | Follow-up Actions17 | Warnings Issued17 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received5 | Follow-up Actions5 | Warnings Issued5 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received19 | Follow-up Actions19 | Warnings Issued17 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received5 | Follow-up Actions5 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received6 | Follow-up Actions6 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received16 | Follow-up Actions16 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received49 | Follow-up Actions49 | Warnings Issued43 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received51 | Follow-up Actions51 | Warnings Issued36 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received109 | Follow-up Actions109 | Warnings Issued35 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received100 | Follow-up Actions100 | Warnings Issued42 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received158 | Follow-up Actions136 | Warnings Issued60 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received90 | Follow-up Actions83 | Warnings Issued44 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received93 | Follow-up Actions93 | Warnings Issued63 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2015 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received49 | Follow-up Actions49 | Warnings Issued49 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2015 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2015 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2014 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2014 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2014 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2014 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2014 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2014 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2014 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
Here are some ways you can help conserve water
Repair broken sprinklers
Use a broom to clean the driveway or sidewalk
Take shorter showers
Wash cars with a bucket and sponge
About the data: This data is for urban water suppliers and is based on the the most recent reports submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board. Since the gallons of water used per person per day measurement does not take into account rainfall, temperature, humidity and population density, the State Water Resources Control Board discourages comparisons between water suppliers.