SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Regional Water Authority has released a new infographic highlighting water use and efficiency progress in the Sacramento region since 2000.
“Sacramento-area water managers have been working for decades to help make water efficiency a way of life in the Sacramento region,” said RWA Executive Director John Woodling. “This infographic helps demonstrate that those actions were working before the drought, served us well during drought and now are an effective path forward.”
Key facts from the infographic include:
- Before the drought, water use in the Sacramento region remained steady despite a 25 percent increase in population.
- During the drought, Sacramento-area residents and businesses contributed 12 percent of the state’s total savings (with only 5 percent of the state’s total population).
- More than 40 percent of the water used in the Sacramento region is returned to the watershed and local waterways to benefit people and the environment downstream, decreasing the area’s net water use.
- The primary factors that drive water use in the Sacramento region are summer’s hot temperatures and large landscapes. In winter, when sprinklers are turned off, the region’s water use is comparable to other communities throughout California and the statewide average for residential per-person water use.
- Most Sacramento-area water providers are 100 percent metered and have been for years. The less than 10 percent of water accounts that remain to be metered are on track to finish by 2025 or earlier.
The infographic can be found on RWA’s Web site at https://rwah2o.org/water-efficiency/
The Regional Water Authority (RWA) is a joint powers authority representing two dozen water providers and affiliates in the greater Sacramento area. Its primary mission is to help its members protect and enhance the reliability, availability, affordability and quality of water resources.
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