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 Monica
- Water consumption in the City Of Santa Monica decreased 5.43 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016. Overall, consumption in August has decreased 23.04 percent over the past five years.
- August 2013 355 million gallons
- August 2014 284 million gallons
- August 2015 289 million gallons
- August 2016 273 million gallons
- August 2017 284 million gallons
Displayed in millions of gallons
Average daily water consumption by each residential customer
- About 67.0% of water consumption in the City Of Santa Monica is residential. The average daily gallons used by each residential customer decreased 4.25 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
- 63.10
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
- 65.90
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
Year-over-year water consumption
- 2013 323 million gallons
- 2015 316 million gallons
- 2016 268 million gallons
- 2013 303 million gallons
- 2015 300 million gallons
- 2016 262 million gallons
- 2013 353 million gallons
- 2015 340 million gallons
- 2016 284 million gallons
- 2013 361 million gallons
- 2015 334 million gallons
- 2016 310 million gallons
- 2013 394 million gallons
- 2015 332 million gallons
- 2016 330 million gallons
- 2013 410 million gallons
- 2015 320 million gallons
- 2016 339 million gallons
- 2013 436 million gallons
- 2015 328 million gallons
- 2016 349 million gallons
- 2013 437 million gallons
- 2015 347 million gallons
- 2016 349 million gallons
- 2013 419 million gallons
- 2015 322 million gallons
- 2016 330 million gallons
- 2013 410 million gallons
- 2015 314 million gallons
- 2016 327 million gallons
- 2013 370 million gallons
- 2015 296 million gallons
- 2016 290 million gallons
- 2013 355 million gallons
- 2015 289 million gallons
- 2016 273 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 Monica water use decreased by 19.71 percent between June 2015 and February 2016 — the nine months of the initial statewide conservation mandate — but the agency failed to meet a 20 percent reduction.
- 63.990
- billion gallons consumed
- over the same months in 2013.
- 51.375
- 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 Monica to the State Water Resources Control Board.
| Month | Watering Days | Complaints | Follow-up Actions | Warnings Issued | Penalties Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received22 | Follow-up Actions22 | Warnings Issued12 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received32 | Follow-up Actions22 | Warnings Issued16 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received34 | Follow-up Actions24 | Warnings Issued8 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received30 | Follow-up Actions25 | Warnings Issued15 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received20 | Follow-up Actions20 | Warnings Issued40 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received15 | Follow-up Actions15 | Warnings Issued35 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received30 | Follow-up Actions30 | Warnings Issued22 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received28 | Follow-up Actions28 | Warnings Issued30 | Penalties Assessed20 |
| MonthApril 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received18 | Follow-up Actions18 | Warnings Issued27 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received20 | Follow-up Actions20 | Warnings Issued30 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received11 | Follow-up Actions11 | Warnings Issued5 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received10 | Follow-up Actions10 | Warnings Issued4 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received22 | Follow-up Actions22 | Warnings Issued12 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received32 | Follow-up Actions22 | Warnings Issued16 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received34 | Follow-up Actions24 | Warnings Issued8 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received30 | Follow-up Actions25 | Warnings Issued15 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received32 | Follow-up Actions32 | Warnings Issued12 | Penalties Assessed64 |
| MonthJuly 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received20 | Follow-up Actions20 | Warnings Issued15 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received30 | Follow-up Actions30 | Warnings Issued47 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received44 | Follow-up Actions44 | Warnings Issued1 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received31 | Follow-up Actions31 | Warnings Issued13 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received41 | Follow-up Actions41 | Warnings Issued21 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received36 | Follow-up Actions36 | Warnings Issued23 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received35 | Follow-up Actions35 | Warnings Issued26 | Penalties Assessed2 |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received28 | Follow-up Actions28 | Warnings Issued25 | Penalties Assessed3 |
| MonthNovember 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received36 | Follow-up Actions36 | Warnings Issued35 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received66 | Follow-up Actions66 | Warnings Issued65 | Penalties Assessed5 |
| MonthSeptember 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received60 | Follow-up Actions60 | Warnings Issued66 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received101 | Follow-up Actions101 | Warnings Issued41 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received72 | Follow-up Actions71 | Warnings Issued72 | Penalties Assessed1 |
| MonthJune 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received123 | Follow-up Actions245 | Warnings Issued174 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received69 | Follow-up Actions68 | Warnings Issued66 | Penalties Assessed1 |
| MonthApril 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received89 | Follow-up Actions89 | Warnings Issued89 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2015 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received52 | Follow-up Actions52 | Warnings Issued52 | Penalties Assessed1 |
| 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 Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2014 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2014 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2014 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
Here are some ways you can help conserve water
Water before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
Plant California Friendly plants
Wash only full loads
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.