Cities cut water use by a combined 31 percent in July, exceeding the governor’s statewide conservation mandate of 25 percent, the State Water Resources Control Board said.

Still, state officials say most of the savings comes from allowing lawns to turn “California golden,” said Marcus, since outdoor watering accounts for at least 50 percent of residential consumption. “This is the drought of the century”.

During the discussion with reporters, state water leaders said there have been questions from the public about commercial and industrial water users that have their own water supply. While communities that used the most water per capita – like Bakersfield and Beverly Hills – have bigger savings targets, ones that already used less – like San Francisco – had lower targets.

The water reductions come at the flawless time since California, struggling through the fourth year of the worst drought on record, guzzles the most water during the summer months. The result was that the district hit a 41 percent conservation rate for this month.

The reason for the change was due to the district using groundwater as a water source, which makes the district unable to receive the reduced 4 percent rate under the drought regulations.

Californians are making the state’s water reduction goals a reality.

Despite threats of hefty fines for agencies that fail to conserve, the state has not yet imposed penalties on the water abusers, she said, explaining that the board is trying to encourage compliance first.

David Drake, a director of Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District in North San Diego County, said the conservation success shows what Californians are capable of doing when they’re motivated.

The tool, called “MyWaterTracker”, is rare in the state, according to Marcus, who said only about 10 percent of agencies have that level of metering and information technology.

Although the state exceeded the 25 percent mandate, Turlock once again fell short of meeting its conservation standard of 32 percent with a water use reduction of 27.9 percent. The news is quite good, and conservation is even better than last month, which is exactly what we need during the hot summer months.

Regulators say they’re working with metropolis officers and Foster Farms on a plan that does not pressure the plant to put off staff and saves water the place attainable. San Dieguito Water District lagged its 28 percent mandate by 5.8 percentage points.

Menlo Park has chopped its water use by almost half since May.

On Thursday, the state water board is releasing the latest figures.

“We’ve got a lot of people hitting homeruns”, Marcus said.

She said “conscientious Californians” were heroic, “each stepping up to help local water resources last longer in the face of an historic drought with no certain end date”.

Savidge urged Modesto’s water customers to take advantage of the city’s drought programs, such as rebates for replacing toilets and washing machines and as much as $500 for replacing lawns with landscaping that uses little or no water.