Californians cut water use 12 percent in February, while concluding a nine-month mandatory conservation initiative just short of the governor’s 25 percent saving goal, according to state data released Monday. Cumulatively, urban water use dropped 23.9 percent from June to February when compared to the same months in the baseline year of 2013 — a reduction that state water officials still praised as a success in combatting California’s historic drought. Californians rose to the occasion, reducing irrigation, fixing leaks, taking shorter showers, and saving our precious water resources in all sorts of ways. Conservation rules for cities and towns remain in place, but the state regulation was eased in March and now seeks a 20 percent reduction.
