Urban responses to restrictive conservation policy during drought

Abstract

With climate change, the extent, severity, and frequency of droughts around the world are expected to increase. This study analyzed the ability of water districts to meet mandatory urban water conservation targets, which are a common policy response to drought. During California's recent record‐breaking drought, a 25% state‐wide use reduction objective was set and met. However, only 50% of urban water districts analyzed in this study reached their individual conservation target, which offers an opportunity to evaluate the factors associated with successful water use reduction. The findings show that the inclusion of water districts in the polycentric import structure may improve water conservation, but that source diversity may offer water districts a perceived buffer from the need for immediate water use reductions. Drought severity and lower median incomes are associated with greater water conservation, and conservation varies by hydrologic region. This analysis offers insights into institutional design and suggests that local biophysical and economic conditions shape responses in systematic ways that should be addressed by public policy responses to drought.

Social and Structural Patterns of Drought‐Related Water Conservation and Rebound

“…Our results highlight the variability in community responsiveness to drought, and links it to local population characteristics and physical realities. This is not surprising given the diverse populations and water governance structures in the state (Palazzo et al, ). In the context of rebound trends over longer time frames, our results highlight the lower responsiveness of high income users to conservation and efficiency incentives in the long‐term, possibly related to the prevalence of price signals and rebates as the primary means that utilities use to achieve these measures (Mini et al, ).…”

“…For example, after the declaration of the state of emergency, the next three periods when California residents were most interested in the drought correspond to (1) early August 2014 following the State Water Board's emergency regulation which set strict outdoor water use restrictions; (2) December 2014 after heavy rain events throughout the Bay Area which had the public wondering whether the drought was over; and (3) April 2015 when the Governor declared the first‐ever mandatory water conservation goals (Figure ). This shows that the public was aware of and interested in the drought, likely influenced by the prevalence of conservation messaging and media coverage (Hollis, ; Palazzo et al, ; Quesnel & Ajami, ). In the case of the South SF district, the combination of these factors led to the highest levels of public attention and responsiveness seen during the entire study period (Figure c).…”

Using Imaging Spectrometry to Study Changes in Crop Area in California’s Central Valley during Drought

“…Climate projections for California indicate that mean and extreme temperatures are likely to increase over the next century, which will increase the risk of experiencing future droughts of the severity of the 2012-2016 event [3,4]. Future droughts will undoubtedly continue to put strain on water supplies, but the magnitude and extent to which these events impact water resources will depend not only on the characteristics of the drought, but also on the adaptive responses of people [5][6][7][8]. In California, where the agriculture sector uses roughly 80% of the state's managed water [9], agriculture simultaneously shows high vulnerability to a warming climate [10,11] while also offering the greatest opportunity to mitigate the intensity of future drought impacts through adaptation strategies [12][13][14].…”

Advancing Water Innovation Through Public Benefit Funds: Examining California's Approach for Electricity

“…US per capita water use has been declining in recent years (Beecher ), but there are still gains to be made, especially in comparison with other countries such as Australia, which in 2009 had almost half of the per capita use of California (Cahill & Lund ). During the recent historic drought of 2011–2016, California was able to achieve exceptional water savings (Palazzo et al ); however, not all of these conservation gains were not permanent, and utilities will need to continue programming to prevent water use rebound during nondrought periods. Funding is needed to further advance conservation and efficiency efforts by supporting utility, regional, and state‐level customer outreach, rebate, and audit conservation programs in addition to research and development of water‐efficient devices.…”