In the desert town of Palm Springs, famous for its golf courses and houses with pools and perfect lawns, residents each use on average 201 gallons (760 liters) of water per day. But that will soon change.
Eleven of the last 16 years in the state have been considered dry, with the last three representing extreme conditions. Meanwhile, the demand for water has drastically increased as the state’s population and agricultural industry have grown alongside an increased presence of hydraulic fracturing.
Under new plans announced by Governor Jerry Brown, California's cities and towns would be required to cut their water usage by up to 35 percent or face steep fines in the state's first-ever mandatory cutbacks in urban water use. Communities, such as Palm Springs, where residential customers use more than 165 gallons of water per person per day would have to cut back by 35 percent.
California's drought has thrust seawater desalination into the spotlight as San Diego County, Santa Barbara and other cities push ahead with treatment plants that will soon turn the Pacific Ocean into a source of drinking water.
Pictures
A sign reading 'No Swimming' is posted next to a dried up irrigation canal near Fresno, California, USA, 10 April 2015, in the Central Valley.EFE
Boats sit at the former high water mark at Castaic Lake reservoir in Castaic, California April 15, 2015.Reuters
Homes with swimming pools are seen in the Palm Springs area, California April 13, 2015. The average daily water usage per person in Palm Springs is 201 gallons, more than double the California average.Reuters
An umbrella is seen painted on dry grass in the Palm Springs area, California April 13, 2015.Reuters
A sign advertising artificial turf is seen in Cathedral City, California, April 13, 2015.Reuters
A campsite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is seen after the first weekend ended in Indio, California April 13, 2015. Organizers have said they will reduce watering of the grounds and let some grass go brown after this year's festival, according to the New York Times.Reuters
A buoy is seen where the water receded at Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara, California March 27, 2015.Reuters
A sign reads 'No Water = No Jobs' along Hiway in California's Central Valley, USA, 10 April 2015.EFE
A plowed up grape vineyard is pictured near Fresno, California, USA, 10 April 2015 in the Central Valley.EFE
Sprinklers irrigate a crop in the Central Valley near Bakersfield, California, USA, 10 April 2015.EFE
Reverse osmosis filters are seen as construction continues on the Western Hemisphere's largest seawater desalination plant in Carlsbad, California April 14, 2015. The biggest ocean desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, a US$1 billion project under construction since 2012 on a coastal lagoon in the California city of Carlsbad, is nearly completed and due to open in November, delivering up to 50 million gallons of water a day to San Diego County.Reuters
Teichert Construction laborer Israel Moreo (L) and plumber Victor De Anda install a water meter on 21st Street during the city's water meter retrofitting program in Sacramento, April 8, 2015.Reuters
Jolene Bertetto, a water conservation technician with East Bay Municipal Utility District, takes a water sample from a neighborhood in Oakland, California April 8, 2015. Bertetto was conducting investigations into waste water and sources of water leaks as the state's top water regulators released a framework for enforcing California's first statewide mandatory restrictions on urban water use.Reuters
California Governor Jerry Brown looks on during a news conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento, California March 19, 2015, to announce a US$1 billion emergency legislative package to deal with the state's devastating, multiyear drought. The state is entering a fourth year of record-breaking drought that has prompted officials to sharply reduce water supplies to farmers and impose strict conservation measures statewide.Reuters