Californians Have Successfully Cut Water Usage By 22 Percent During Drought

The ongoing drought in California is slowly finding some areas of relief, due in part to a rainy December and residents' successful efforts to reduce water use during a difficult time, reports The Associated Press.

In December 2014, Californians heard to Governor Jerry Brown's plea to cut water usage by 20 percent, and managed to use 22 percent less water than in December 2013. In the past, the most that residents were able to cut down water usage was in August, when usage dropped 11.6 percent.

This past December, the state's overall precipitation was measured at six inches, compared to a dismal 2013 total of .5 inches of rainfall. The difference meant that residents needed to allocate less water for tasks like watering the lawn.

"It reinforces what we thought all along, that the extent of outdoor water use is a huge driver of water conservation and water use," said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board.

Furthermore, the new data shows that in the last six months, per-capita water usage has been cut in half, with an average usage of 67 gallons a day per person in December, compared to 140 gallons per person in June.