LOS ANGELES — Almost a year after Gov. Gavin Newsom pleaded with Californians to voluntarily cut their water use by 15% amid a worsening drought, water conservation figures are still nowhere near that mark.
Now, as millions across Southern California face unprecedented water restrictions beginning next month, some water experts say that much broader cuts, such as those ordered by former Gov. Jerry Brown during the last drought, are needed to rouse the state from its false sense of water security.
“Even during the last drought, when Gov. Brown asked for voluntary cuts, we didn’t meet those,” said Heather Cooley, director of research at the Pacific Institute, a water think tank in Oakland. “We really need to go toward the mandatory. It really does send a signal that we are all in this together, and that everyone needs to be doing their part.”
