Bay Area falls short in water conservation

Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for Californians to reduce water usage by 20 percent appears to have fallen on deaf ears – at least in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Records from the Bay Area’s largest water agencies reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle show customers are conserving small amounts of water, if at all.

In San Jose, water use in the first quarter of the year was up over the same period in 2013. Elsewhere, customers have cutback, but not close to the 20 percent reduction Brown sought when he declared a drought emergency nearly five months ago.

The Chronicle says East Bay Municipal Utility District customers have cut consumption by about 3 percent between early February and April.

San Francisco residents have reduced water use by about 8 percent.