One acre-foot
of water is enough to meet the needs of two typical families for
a year.
Landscaping
accounts for about half the water Californians use at home. Showers
account for another 18%, while toilets use about 20%.
About 66,000
acre-feet of water were voluntarily provided by State Water Project
and Central Valley Project contractors to assist migrating salmon
this year.
Per capita
water use varies around the state. Central Valley residents use
up to 300 gallons per person per day, while some Central Coast
residents use as little as 50 gallons per day.
It takes
3.3 acre-feet of water to grow enough food for an average family
for a year.
Outdoor water
needs consume about half the water used in a typical home.
There are
two major projects, the State Water Project (SWP) and the federal
Central Valley Project (CVP) that carry water from northern California
to central and southern California users.
California
will be chronically short of water by 2010, unless steps are taken
now to improve our water supply system.
A water storage
project typically takes 10 to 20 years to design and build.
For
more water information, visit our Issues section.
