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 San Jose Water Company
- Water consumption in the San Jose Water Company decreased 1.26 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016. Overall, consumption in August has decreased 31.05 percent over the past five years.
- August 2013 3113 million gallons
- August 2014 2306 million gallons
- August 2015 2174 million gallons
- August 2016 2147 million gallons
- August 2017 2306 million gallons
Displayed in millions of gallons
Average daily water consumption by each residential customer
- About 70.0% of water consumption in the San Jose Water Company is residential. The average daily gallons used by each residential customer decreased 1.21 percent in August 2017 compared to August 2016, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
- 49.00
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
- 49.60
- average daily gallons
used by each residential
customer for August 2017
Year-over-year water consumption
- 2013 2462 million gallons
- 2015 2533 million gallons
- 2016 2076 million gallons
- 2013 2469 million gallons
- 2015 2350 million gallons
- 2016 1958 million gallons
- 2013 3143 million gallons
- 2015 2903 million gallons
- 2016 2171 million gallons
- 2013 3844 million gallons
- 2015 2893 million gallons
- 2016 2466 million gallons
- 2013 4793 million gallons
- 2015 3079 million gallons
- 2016 3074 million gallons
- 2013 4927 million gallons
- 2015 3194 million gallons
- 2016 3556 million gallons
- 2013 5352 million gallons
- 2015 3295 million gallons
- 2016 3826 million gallons
- 2013 5204 million gallons
- 2015 3350 million gallons
- 2016 3739 million gallons
- 2013 4671 million gallons
- 2015 3233 million gallons
- 2016 3457 million gallons
- 2013 4389 million gallons
- 2015 3137 million gallons
- 2016 2944 million gallons
- 2013 3461 million gallons
- 2015 2305 million gallons
- 2016 2300 million gallons
- 2013 3113 million gallons
- 2015 2174 million gallons
- 2016 2147 million gallons
Displayed in millions of gallons
2014 water use data is incomplete and therefore not displayed
Progress toward mandatory water reduction*
- San Jose Water Company water use decreased by 32.19 percent between June 2015 and February 2016 — the nine months of the initial statewide conservation mandate — achieving a 20 percent reduction.
- 669.578
- billion gallons consumed
- over the same months in 2013.
- 454.074
- 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 San Jose Water Company to the State Water Resources Control Board.
| Month | Watering Days | Complaints | Follow-up Actions | Warnings Issued | Penalties Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received40 | Follow-up Actions37 | Warnings Issued37 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received52 | Follow-up Actions50 | Warnings Issued50 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received103 | Follow-up Actions102 | Warnings Issued102 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received140 | Follow-up Actions155 | Warnings Issued155 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received40 | Follow-up Actions37 | Warnings Issued37 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received40 | Follow-up Actions39 | Warnings Issued39 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received39 | Follow-up Actions36 | Warnings Issued36 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received28 | Follow-up Actions24 | Warnings Issued24 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received21 | Follow-up Actions16 | Warnings Issued17 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received19 | Follow-up Actions16 | Warnings Issued16 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2017 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received40 | Follow-up Actions41 | Warnings Issued41 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2017 | Watering Days— | Complaints Received39 | Follow-up Actions35 | Warnings Issued35 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received40 | Follow-up Actions37 | Warnings Issued37 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received52 | Follow-up Actions50 | Warnings Issued50 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received103 | Follow-up Actions102 | Warnings Issued102 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received140 | Follow-up Actions155 | Warnings Issued155 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received122 | Follow-up Actions95 | Warnings Issued95 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2016 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received123 | Follow-up Actions130 | Warnings Issued130 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received108 | Follow-up Actions93 | Warnings Issued92 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received80 | Follow-up Actions72 | Warnings Issued73 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received102 | Follow-up Actions102 | Warnings Issued102 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received92 | Follow-up Actions98 | Warnings Issued98 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthFebruary 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received85 | Follow-up Actions88 | Warnings Issued88 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJanuary 2016 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received66 | Follow-up Actions65 | Warnings Issued65 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received101 | Follow-up Actions97 | Warnings Issued97 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthNovember 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received111 | Follow-up Actions118 | Warnings Issued118 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthOctober 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received202 | Follow-up Actions207 | Warnings Issued207 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthSeptember 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received240 | Follow-up Actions261 | Warnings Issued261 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthAugust 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received360 | Follow-up Actions329 | Warnings Issued329 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJuly 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received319 | Follow-up Actions317 | Warnings Issued320 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthJune 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received343 | Follow-up Actions420 | Warnings Issued420 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMay 2015 | Watering Days2 | Complaints Received283 | Follow-up Actions393 | Warnings Issued283 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthApril 2015 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received385 | Follow-up Actions331 | Warnings Issued331 | Penalties Assessed— |
| MonthMarch 2015 | Watering Days3 | Complaints Received100 | Follow-up Actions96 | Warnings Issued96 | 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
Plant California Friendly plants
Take shorter showers
Water before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
Use a broom to clean the driveway or sidewalk
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.