1. See what stage of water emergency your city or county is in.
Check with the Association of Water Agency's official report on how California water agencies are responding to the dry conditions. With a comprehensive list covering many individual cities and counties, you can see what is officially declared prohibited versus what may be a faux pas - is washing your car with a hose OK in your city? In Alameda County, water wasters are encouraged to be reported to authorities.
2. Check out the official water conservation campaign Gov. Brown set up!
Peruse SaveOurH20.org and their PSA material, if you can manage to not get redirected to a dead link. Sadly, the site is a bit dysfunctional, with difficult navigation and an awkward commitment to make water conservation sound cool. However, only so much sympathy can be offered to this bloated campaign when they encourage you to spread the awareness by printing out their fliers (which are "helpfully available in Spanish") via a Dropbox download. For some reason, their slick PSAs are available to view on Vimeo, but not on YouTube. Although Vimeo is pretty, high-definition, and has a defined aesthetic, YouTube is unarguably more accessible to a larger public. But really, check it out, because the governor's social media team worked really hard on it.
3. Uphold the same expectations of citizens to city.
Public agencies should be held to the same standards as its citizens on water usage, right? Drought-conscious Californians have called out government agencies through social media, as officials have been caught watering public parks until it overflows or running sprinklers at the hottest times of the day. If you see an official or agency misusing their water, you can report a complaint to the Department of Water and Power. If the DWP receives a complaint about a public agency, members of the Conservation Response Team determine whether there was a violation and then contact the agency in question.
4. Know that your favorite craft beer, nut, or produce could rise in price.
If you're a fan of Lagunitas Dogtown Pale or Lil Sumpin' Sumpin', your palate may suffer. Though Lagunitas moved some production to Chicago, nearby Lake Michigan, Northern California's Russian River provides the main ingredient. Needing over 2 million gallons of water to make a steady supply of their bubbly brew, California's recent caps could kill your buzz. As California is home to over 400 craft brewers, small brewing companies are worrying about rising prices if they need to scavenge for new supplies.
California produces nearly half of all U.S.-grown fruits, vegetables, and nuts, like lettuce, strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, walnuts, and almonds. It also yields the majority of our broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, peppers, garlic, kale, lemons, limes, celery, eggplant, and avocado. And when Mediterranean-native figs, dates, artichokes, olives, and pistachios are grown here in the States, it’s in California 99% of the time, says the USDA.
It is estimated fresh fruit and vegetable prices might increase by 6%. Classic carb staple rice is also projected to raise 10% to 20% this year, as 85% of farmland is devoted to it.
California produces nearly half of all U.S.-grown fruits, vegetables, and nuts, like lettuce, strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, walnuts, and almonds. It also yields the majority of our broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, peppers, garlic, kale, lemons, limes, celery, eggplant, and avocado. And when Mediterranean-native figs, dates, artichokes, olives, and pistachios are grown here in the States, it’s in California 99% of the time, says the USDA.
It is estimated fresh fruit and vegetable prices might increase by 6%. Classic carb staple rice is also projected to raise 10% to 20% this year, as 85% of farmland is devoted to it.
5. Get your free water conservation kit, if you haven't already.
To best help out the water conservation crisis in your home, low-flow showerheads, hose nozzles, faucet aerators (which reduce the gallons per minute your water flows), and toilet leak tablets are highly recommended to be installed as part of your daily lifestyle as a responsible Californian. Some of these resources are available to you for free: the California Water Service Company offers a complimentary kit with the above mentioned items. Most counties also offer one per family. This Google search can check to see if your county can send you one.