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Historical trends of residential water use in California: Effects of droughts and conservation policies

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  • Juhee Lee
  • Mehdi Nemati
  • Ariel Dinar

Abstract

Conservation efforts to reduce residential water use have a long history in California. This article examines residential water use changes, measured by gallons per capita per day (GPCD), using a comprehensive monthly panel dataset of California's public water agencies during 1994–2019. We find that, on average, GPCD was reduced by 34% in 2019 when compared to 1994 levels. Controlling for the region, water source, and water agency characteristics suggest significant differences in policy performance. The differential effectiveness of conservation policies indicates a need to consider policy differentiation based on the agencies' objective and subjective conditions.

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  • Juhee Lee & Mehdi Nemati & Ariel Dinar, 2022. "Historical trends of residential water use in California: Effects of droughts and conservation policies," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 511-530, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:44:y:2022:i:1:p:511-530
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13149
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    Cited by:

    1. Nemati, Mehdi & Dinar, Ariel, 2023. "Teaching Principles of Water Economics to Non-Economists: Lessons from California," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(3), September.
    2. Nemati, Mehdi & Dinar, Ariel, 2023. "Teaching Principles of Water Economics to Non-Economists: Lessons from California," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(2), March.

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