California American Water Applauds Customers for Saving More Than 15 Billion Gallons During Drought

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Governor Jerry Brown issued Executive Order B-40-17, which terminated his previous executive order declaring a statewide drought emergency. While mandatory measures and water supply “stress tests” are no longer required for most water utilities around the state, common sense prohibitions against wasteful water use remain.

California American Water customers were successful in their response to the drought, collectively reducing water use by more than 15 billion gallons between June 2015 and March 2017 in comparison to water use in 2013. To help customers save, California American Water launched award winning communication campaigns that included a heavy emphasis on personal outreach, social media and smart phone applications as well as traditional communications. The company also increased funding for turf rebate programs around the state.

“Our customers around the state took the drought seriously and reduced their water use by 26 percent,” said Richard Svindland, President of California American Water. “The emergency is over and we should applaud that, but keep in mind that water efficiency is a California way of life.”

In the coming days, California American Water customers will receive communications about the roll back of current drought restrictions as well as which measures will remain in place. The Governor’s announcement included continuing restrictions on the following wasteful practices:

• Hosing off sidewalks, driveways and other hardscapes
• Washing cars with hoses not equipped with a shut-off nozzle
• Use of fountains that do not re-circulate the water
• Watering lawns in a manner that causes run-off or within 48 hours of rainfall
• Irrigating ornamental turf on public street medians

Customers can visit www.californiaamwater.com for more information about the end of the drought as well as programs and rebates that are available to help them keep using water efficiently.

California American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), provides high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to more than 660,000 people.

With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly-traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.