Water Resources Division Annual Report FY 2015-2016 | Page 6

Drought Update
STATE MANDATES AND SFPUC ACTIONS
Preceding FY 2015-16, state and local leaders took
significant actions to address the drought, including
the declaration of a drought state of emergency by
Governor Brown in January 2014. In April 2015, Governor
Brown issued Executive Order B-29-15, which called
for a mandatory statewide water use reduction of 25%.
Following this order, the State Water Board imposed
regulations to achieve the statewide reduction and
assigned a conservation standard of 8%, compared to
2013, to the SFPUC. In July 2015, the SFPUC launched
the 2015-16 Drought Program to meet the state
mandates. The program maintained the call for a 10%
voluntary system-wide reduction while also increasing the
mandatory reduction on irrigation use from 10% to 25%.
In May 2016, recognizing that winter rains improved
hydrologic conditions, the State Water Board adopted a
new statewide water conservation approach that replaced
the prior percentage reduction-based water conservation
standard with a localized “stress test” approach. Under
this regulation, the SFPUC demonstrated sufficient
water supplies in the Regional Water System to meet
customer demand for three more dry years. Furthermore,
the SFPUC took additional measures in June 2016 to

lift the mandatory 25% reduction in landscape watering
for irrigation-only customers that was in place since July
2015, modify and adopt several water use restrictions,
and maintain a 10% voluntary system-wide reduction.
To help customers reduce and maintain efficient water use,
the SFPUC provided an extensive array of water conservation
services and informational materials, and launched an
updated multi-media drought outreach campaign.
During this fiscal year, San Francisco residents and
businesses exceeded the call for a voluntary 10% reduction
in water use. Single family households reduced their water
use by 16% compared to 2013, while multi-family reduced
their water use by 10% and commercial properties by
7%. Other sectors, including academic, government, and
irrigation, collectively reduced their water use by 32%.

During this fiscal year, the SFPUC saw
a 13% reduction in water deliveries to
San Francisco, a total of 9.4 million
gallons per day compared to 2013.

70

Water Usea (millions of gallons per day)

60

Otherb - 5.4

Voluntary 10% reduction target

Otherb - 3.7
50

Commercial - 18.4
Commercial - 17.2

40

30

Multi-family - 23.7
Multi-family - 21.4

20

10

Single Family - 16.4

2013

Single Family - 13.7
2015-16

a Water Use is based on SFPUC sales data. System losses are not included.
b Other sectors include industrial, institutional, governmental, or irrigation account types.

SFPUC retail water customers in San Francisco exceeded the 10% voluntary reduction request.
Across all retail sectors, customers used less water in FY 2015-16 compared to 2013.

4