Calif. eyes stricter water conservation rules
By Dale Kasler, Sacramento Bee
As the drought enters its fifth year, California is considering tightening its urban water conservation standards.
In a series of proposals released Wednesday, state officials said they might require urban water districts seeking to avoid state conservation mandates to prove they have a five-year water supply on hand.
Under rules that went into effect earlier this year, urban districts have to show only a three-year supply to get out from under the state’s previous mandates, which required savings of 25 percent. With the more relaxed standards now in effect in most of the state, Californians haven’t been conserving as much as they did last year. Officials with the State Water Resources Control Board have raised the idea of imposing a tougher mechanism for reducing consumption.