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 Rainbow Municipal Water District
- Water consumption in the Rainbow Municipal Water District decreased 16.15 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016. Overall, consumption in August has decreased 62.63 percent over the past five years.
- August 2013 424 million gallons
- August 2014 158 million gallons
- August 2015 60 million gallons
- August 2016 50 million gallons
- August 2017 158 million gallons
Displayed in millions of gallons
Average daily water consumption by each residential customer
- About 25.0% of water consumption in the Rainbow Municipal Water District is residential. The average daily gallons used by each residential customer decreased 12.99 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
- 71.00
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
- 81.60
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
Year-over-year water consumption
- 2013 88 million gallons
- 2015 264 million gallons
- 2016 56 million gallons
- 2013 77 million gallons
- 2015 402 million gallons
- 2016 123 million gallons
- 2013 117 million gallons
- 2015 508 million gallons
- 2016 76 million gallons
- 2013 187 million gallons
- 2015 613 million gallons
- 2016 139 million gallons
- 2013 199 million gallons
- 2015 412 million gallons
- 2016 135 million gallons
- 2013 221 million gallons
- 2015 152 million gallons
- 2016 192 million gallons
- 2013 253 million gallons
- 2015 122 million gallons
- 2016 217 million gallons
- 2013 266 million gallons
- 2015 163 million gallons
- 2016 216 million gallons
- 2013 279 million gallons
- 2015 131 million gallons
- 2016 98 million gallons
- 2013 207 million gallons
- 2015 118 million gallons
- 2016 148 million gallons
- 2013 148 million gallons
- 2015 86 million gallons
- 2016 143 million gallons
- 2013 134 million gallons
- 2015 60 million gallons
- 2016 50 million gallons
Displayed in millions of gallons
2014 water use data is incomplete and therefore not displayed
Progress toward mandatory water reduction*
- Rainbow Municipal Water District water use decreased by 48.66 percent between June 2015 and February 2016 — the nine months of the initial statewide conservation mandate — achieving a 36 percent reduction.
- 37.064
- billion gallons consumed
- over the same months in 2013.
- 19.027
- 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 Rainbow Municipal Water District to the State Water Resources Control Board.
| Month | Watering Days | Complaints | Follow-up Actions | Warnings Issued | Penalties Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2017 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2016 | Watering Days7 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received1 | Follow-up Actions1 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received4 | Follow-up Actions4 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received2 | Follow-up Actions2 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received4 | Follow-up Actions4 | Warnings Issued4 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received6 | Follow-up Actions6 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received10 | Follow-up Actions10 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received18 | Follow-up Actions18 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received15 | Follow-up Actions15 | Warnings Issued15 | Penalties Assessed1 |
| MonthJuly 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received5 | Follow-up Actions5 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received8 | Follow-up Actions8 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2015 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received23 | Follow-up Actions23 | Warnings Issued— | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2015 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received— | Follow-up Actions— | Warnings Issued— | 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
Capture tap water
Water before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
Repair leaks
Repair broken sprinklers
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.