In April of 2015, the fourth year of California’s drought, Governor Jerry Brown stood atop a browning, snow-barren field in the Sierra to declare the first mandatory water cuts in state history. By executive order, all cities and towns were required to cut water use by 25 percent below 2013 levels. “This historic drought demands unprecedented action,” Brown said. 

Enter year five. Although efforts to reduce water consumption initially succeeded—with each month in the first twelve hovering between 25 and 30 percent reduction compared to the same month in previous years—rain has still not arrived. Conviction has also declined over time. After the state relaxed its mandates in June, conservation efforts dipped below 25 percent. As water supplies continue to dwindle, California officials have received countless suggestions from state residents through emails, phone calls, and public meetings for dealing with the dire circumstances, according to the Los Angeles Times. These solutions range anywhere from the fantastical (“aiming abandoned airplanes at the sky”) to the economically infeasible (shipping snow by train from the East Coast, an estimated $437 billion endeavor). 

Fortunately for California, more practical solutions are already underway. Driven by Governor Brown's renewed calls to action and increasingly urgent water resource management needs, cities across the state have busted out innovative technology and policy solutions to prolong the water supply.

Los Angeles: Stormwater harvesting 

The drought may seem ironic to anyone who remembers the city in the 20th century. Floods were the perennial bane of L.A.’s economic and physical stability; after a particularly harrowing deluge in 1938, the city underwent a full-blown engineering effort to channelize all flood-prone waterways, so any stormwater would be ejected into the ocean as quickly as possible. 

Now Los Angeles is being re-engineered—this time to harvest as much rainwater as possible during its precious and fickle appearances. 

Among the initiatives is the Green Alleys project, an effort led by the Trust for Public Land, to redesign parts of L.A.’s 900-mile alleyway network for stormwater capture and infiltration. Through the use of permeable pavement, vegetation, and other techniques, green alleys not only facilitate water storage but also prevent polluted runoff from contaminating the ocean. They are also aesthetically pleasing and enhance the public space. The newest alley being completed, between East 51st and 52nd Streets off South Avalon Boulevard, will capture an estimated 700,000 gallons of water a year.

Overall, the city has a 20-year stormwater capture master plan that could raise its current capture efficiency rate of 8 percent by 16 to 21 percent. Across the state, the State Water Resources and Control Board also authorized $200 million in spending earlier this year to fund stormwater capture projects. 

Orange County: Incentive pricing 

Not too far away in Orange County, the Irvine Water Ranch District has implemented a clever pricing scheme to drive down water consumption. The utility company sets unique monthly “water budgets” for every residence based on the number of residents, area of landscaping, and weather. Each residence’s water consumption is then broken up into four tiers—ranging from Low Volume (less than 40 percent of their water budget) to Wasteful (over 131 percent of the water budget)—which are priced at increasingly higher rates. 

Since being adopted, this pricing tactic has achieved “a 156 percent greater savings than would have occurred if the district had implemented mandatory two-day-per-week watering restrictions only,” as reported by the utility company. 

Castro Valley: Peer pressure 

Leveraging its proximity to tech hub Silicon Valley, the East Bay Municipal Utility District has found a different way to induce water conservation among its 1.4 million customers. In June of 2012, the utility company partnered with WaterSmart Software to run a one-year experiment with roughly 10,000 homes. A San Francisco-based company, WaterSmart Software provides monthly reports to each household, comparing its water use with that of its average and most efficient neighbors. 

During the pilot, homes that received the WaterSmart report saved 4.6 to 6.6 percent more water than those that didn’t. The utility company subsequently signed a three-year contract with WaterSmart in June of 2014. 

Sacramento: Lawn elimination 

In the California capital, a Turf Replacement Program aims to eradicate water-guzzling lawns, which according to Terrance Davis, drought and sustainability manager for the city's Department of Utilities, accounts for 60% of regional water consumption. Sacramento’s rebate program offers $1 per square foot of lawn replaced with native, drought-resistant plants—up to $1500 for single-family homes and $25,000 for multifamily—with the hopes of achieving a 17 percent water reduction. 

In addition to the attention-grabbing financial incentives, the city has also created a strict lawn-watering regimen for all households. In winter months, residents can only water their lawns one day per week; in summer, two days per week, on specific days designated by property address and within restricted hours to minimize evaporation from the sun. City residents are even encouraged to out their neighbors for watering outside the regulated allowance, keeping in mind the greater good, of course. 

San Francisco: Water reuse 

Since September of 2012, the city and county of San Francisco have operated under strict water reuse guidelines dictated in the Non-Portable Water Ordinance. In July of 2015, a new amendment was added, requiring all non-potable water use in new developments of 250,000 square footage or more to come from onsite water reuse systems. 

According to Paula Kehoe, the director of water resources at the San Francisco Public Utility Commission, non-potable water accounts for 95% of water use in commercial buildings and 50% in residential. The amendment is the first of its kind in the country and hopefully foreshadows more like-minded legislation to come.

This article has been modified from its original posting.