Californians are continuing to save significant amounts of water despite the decision by Gov. Jerry Brown's administration to relax drought rules two months ago. 
 
 Statewide, urban residents cut water use 21.5 percent in June, compared with the same month in 2013, the year the state has been using as a baseline, according to new data released Tuesday. 
 
 Experts said the numbers from the State Water Resources Control Board -- even though down from the 28.1 percent savings in May -- demonstrate that Californians remain worried that the drought isn't over despite the fact that many cities are allowing more frequent lawn watering and easing other drought restrictions this summer after a fairly wet winter. Increased water rates also seem to be behind the apparent trend not to open the spigots wide, experts said. 
 
 The state's relaxed new rules became effective in June, so Tuesday's report was the first indication of whether Californians would continue to conserve. 
 
 "It's maybe not as good as we hoped, but it's better than we feared with conflicting messages out there," Felicia Marcus, Water Resources Control Board chairwoman, said. 
 
 Experts say another reason for the encouraging numbers is that many of the savings are now "locked in" because many Californians ripped out their lawns and installed water-efficient appliances and drip irrigation during the height of the drought. 
 
 "For many, conservation is now a way of life -- and in our book that's a success," said Jasmine Oaxaca, an enforcement specialist with the state water board. 
 
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 In May, the five-member board, which is appointed by Brown, approved plans to drop all statewide mandatory water conservation targets it had imposed last year on California's 410 largest cities, water districts and private water companies when the state's historic drought peaked. 
 
 Under the prior rules, each community was given a water conservation target -- from 8 to 36 percent -- based on its per capita water use, with the threat of state fines for failure to meet the targets. 
 
 From June 2015 to March 2016, Brown asked Californians to cut water use 25 percent overall in urban areas, compared with 2013. Residents responded, reducing water use by 23.9 percent. 
 
 But water agencies, particularly in Southern California and around Sacramento, complained bitterly about the statewide rules, saying that they were costing them hundreds of millions of dollars in lost water sales. They also argued that the rules did not accurately reflect each community's local water supply conditions. 
 
 The state water board listened and decided to allow each city and water agency to set its own target. Environmentalists and some scientists said the change was shortsighted, given that much of the state, particularly Southern California, received lower-than-normal rainfall this past winter and remains mired in a serious drought. 
 
 Sprinklers water the lawn during the heat of the day in the Willow Glen neighborhood in San Jose. (Gary Reyes/Bay Area News Group archive) 
 
 Some agencies kept strong conservation targets in place. The Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves 1.9 million people in and around San Jose, cut its target from 30 percent to 20 percent, for example. 
 
 But many major water suppliers, including the East Bay Municipal Utility District and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, immediately announced that their conservation targets would be zero this summer. Other areas that had won accolades for water conservation, such as Santa Cruz, also dropped their targets to zero. 
 
 Still, East Bay MUD cut use 18.1 percent in June, and Santa Cruz cut its water use by 20.9 percent. 
 
 Elsewhere in the Bay Area, San Jose Water Company cut water use by 27.8 percent, Contra Costa Water District by 37.8 percent, Marin Municipal Water District 13.6 percent, Palo Alto 17.9 percent, San Francisco by 12.5 percent and Alameda County Water District 28.7 percent. 
 
 Some experts remain wary that the conservation trend might not last. 
 
 In June 2015, Californians cut water use by 27.5 percent compared with the 2013 baseline, noted Heather Cooley, water program director with the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Oakland. 
 
 "Today's numbers are fairly strong," she said. "But I'm concerned about the next several months and years. The water we save now is water we can use later if we don't get rains next winter. We need to be cautious." 
 
 Cooley said she was disappointed when the Brown administration dropped the mandatory targets. 
 
 "There was an argument for relaxing them, given that conditions in parts of the state had improved, but I thought the complete removal of those targets was shortsighted," she said. 
 
 A poll last week by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 63 percent of likely voters said state and local government is not doing enough to respond to the drought, although the number who ranked the drought as the state's most serious environmental issue dropped from 58 percent a year ago to 38 percent now. 
 
 Water agencies said Tuesday that they are pleased each city and water district has the ability set its own conservation targets. 
 
 "We are telling people it's OK not to have a bucket in your shower and to flush your toilet when you need to," said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. "If we don't have an emergency, we shouldn't act like there is an emergency." 
 
 Quinn said while water agencies lost millions on reduced water sales and often had to raise rates to cover costs, the primary motive for wanting to drop "a one-size-fits-all approach from Sacramento" is that many areas built new reservoirs, water recycling projects, even desalination plants -- and should be allowed to use that water now. 
 
 "You need to keep your credibility with the public," he said. 
 
 Under the new rules, each community was required by June 15 to report its new conservation target to the state water board. The target was to be based on a forecast in which supply conditions would mirror the past three years, and demand would be the average of 2013 and 2014. 
 
 So far, 379 of 410 cities, water districts and private water companies have submitted those plans, and state water board staff is still evaluating them. 
 
 Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN. ||||| FILE In this May 6, 2015 file photo, local resident Martha Mattison, left, helps out her son Jacob, 14, with his dog walking business as they walk past recently installed synthetic grass, seen at right,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE In this May 6, 2015 file photo, local resident Martha Mattison, left, helps out her son Jacob, 14, with his dog walking business as they walk past recently installed synthetic grass, seen at right, in Garden Grove, Calif. California water officials say they will consider dropping a mandate requiring... (Associated Press) 
 
 FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Strict rules adopted at the height of California's drought leading many people to let their lawns turn brown may soon end as state regulators Wednesday consider letting local communities decide how to keep their own water use in check. 
 
 That's good news to Southern California landscaper Greg Gritters, who says local water officials are best suited to manage their supplies. 
 
 His clients have had to choose between keeping their lawns green at the expense of huge water bills or turning down their sprinklers and watch their yard turn brown. 
 
 "Either way they're unhappy," said Gritters, owner of Vintage Landscape in the Coachella Valley. "There's lots of unhappy people since the drought went into effect." 
 
 A proposal before the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento would allow local districts to compare their water supplies with how much they anticipate needing if drought continues for three more years. 
 
 Cities and water districts will set their conservation targets based on the difference between the anticipated supply and demand. The proposed regulation would extend to January. 
 
 The Irvine Ranch Water District in Orange County led the push for a regional approach. Fiona Sanchez, director of water resources for the district, said she is confident that districts statewide will carefully study their supply and demand ratio. 
 
 "If agencies are not taking it seriously, it will be very evident they can't meet their customers' demands," she said. 
 
 Some districts may set strict conservation goals for residents and businesses, while others could determine it is time to lift conservation mandates. 
 
 California is in its fifth year of drought, but regulators are considering the new approach as El Nino storms delivered nearly average amounts of rain and snow this winter in Northern California, filling key reservoirs. 
 
 Southern California, however, remains deep in drought, and it's unclear what the future will bring. 
 
 Bans on wasting water by washing sidewalks with a hose or washing cars without a shut-off nozzle would become permanent under the proposed regulation. 
 
 Max Gomberg, a senior climate scientist for the state water board, said Californians understand the drought remains critical. He doesn't expect people to suddenly begin wasting water with any changes. 
 
 "Californians have shown that when there's a serious drought and a need to conserve, people step up and pitch in," he said. "We're confident that people are going to continue practicing their conservation habits." ||||| The directive comes more than a year after Brown asked for a 20% voluntary cut in water use that most parts of the state have failed to attain, even as one of the most severe modern droughts drags into a fourth year. It also came on the day that water officials measured the lowest April 1 snowpack in more than 60 years of record-keeping in the Sierra Nevada. 
 
 
 
 Wearing hiking shoes and a windbreaker in an area that normally requires cross-country skis this time of year, Brown announced the executive order in a Sierra Nevada meadow that provided a dramatic illustration of the state's parched conditions. 
 
 
 
 "We're standing on dry grass," Brown said. "We should be standing on five feet of snow." 
 
 
 
 Emphasizing that the drought could persist, Brown said Californians must change their water habits. "It's a different world," he said. "We have to act differently." 
 
 
 
 The order focused on urban life even though agriculture accounts for roughly three quarters of Californians' water usage. Cities have to stop watering the median strips that run down the middle of roads. The state will partner with local agencies to remove 50 million square feet of grass — the equivalent of about 1,150 football fields — and replace it with drought-tolerant landscaping. 
 
 
 
 State agencies will create a temporary rebate program to encourage homeowners to replace water-guzzling appliances with high-efficiency ones. Golf courses, campuses and cemeteries must cut their water use. New developments will have to install drip or microspray systems if they irrigate with drinking water. Water agencies will discourage water waste with higher rates and fees. 
 
 
 
 The order aims to reduce the amount of water used statewide in urban areas in 2013 by 25%. 
 
 
 
 Some critics of Brown's order said it didn't do enough to address agricultural uses. Adam Scow, director of Food & Water Watch California, called the order disappointing. 
 
 
 
 "The governor must save our groundwater from depletion by directing the state water board to protect groundwater as a public resource," Scow said in a statement. 
 
 
 
 Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, said the measure isn't about "finger-pointing"…"It's about everybody having to step up in these tough times." 
 
 
 
 The water board will release draft regulations in mid-April to implement the order. It plans to approve the regulations in early May. 
 
 
 
 Marcus said local agencies will receive targets for cutting water use based on how well they've done so far 
 
 
 
 Local agencies that have been slow to conserve since then will feel the order's effects most dramatically, Marcus said. 
 
 
 
 "You're rewarding the early adopters ... and you're saying to the laggers, 'You have to make a change,'" she said. 
 
 
 
 Most of the burden of enforcement will fall on local agencies. 
 
 
 
 If they don't follow the governor's order, the state can fine them as much as $10,000 a day. 
 
 
 
 Many Southern California agencies are already taking steps called for in Brown's order. For instance, under a turf rebate program administered by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, spokesman Bob Muir said homeowners are planning to remove almost 89 million square feet of turf, the equivalent of more than 59,000 frontyards. It's unclear whether Brown's mandate for 50 million square feet of lawn replacement includes work already done by local agencies. Similarly, Los Angeles already has a tiered water-rate structure to encourage conservation. 
 
 
 
 Although Southern California water managers said it might be tough for some cities to meet the 25% target, they welcomed Brown's action. 
 
 
 
 "It's the right time. It's a proper directive," said Rob Hunter, general manager of the Municipal Water District of Orange County. 
 
 
 
 Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti praised the executive order, noting that last year he called for a 20% cut in the city's water use by 2017. 
 
 
 
 In Long Beach, Water Department General Manager Kevin Wattier said the order would have the biggest effect on water districts that use much more water per capita than Long Beach and Los Angeles. 
 
 
 
 "The governor understands we don't have time to allow any voluntary measures to work," said Mark Gold of UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. "This is such a growing crisis that mandatory conservation was absolutely necessary." 
 
 
 
 Lester Snow, executive director of the California Water Foundation and former state secretary of natural resources, said even more restrictions may be necessary in the future, such as banning all outdoor water use. "We're probably going to need more action before we're through the summer," he said. 
 
 
 
 Brown issued his order at Phillips Station, about 90 miles east of Sacramento, where state workers conducted a manual snow survey as part of statewide readings that revealed that the water content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack was only about 5% of the average for April 1. That is the lowest for the date in records going back to 1950. 
 
 
 
 The Sierra snowpack accounts for about 30% of the state's water supply, and although major reservoir storage is better than it was last year, there will be little snowmelt to replenish reservoirs this spring. 
 
 
 
 Nurit Katz, UCLA's Chief Sustainability Officer and co-chair of a UC system-wide water task force, said every campus has created a water action plan focused on reducing consumption. UCLA is installing artificial turf on its intramural field, retrofitting fixtures such as toilets and developing a smart water filtration system. 
 
 
 
 Combined with other efforts, the campus expects to save millions of gallons of water each year, she said. 
 
 
 
 Brown's order requires agricultural districts in depleted groundwater basins to share data on groundwater use with the state. 
 
 
 
 "The agricultural community is already being hit very hard," Marcus said. 
 
 
 
 For the second year in a row, Central Valley growers without senior water rights are likely to get no supplies from the valley's big federal irrigation project. Last year farmers idled about 500,000 acres for lack of water, and this year they may be forced to leave even more cropland unplanted. 
 
 
 
 "Some people want to say, 'What about the farmers?' And farmers want to say, 'What about those people watering their lawns?'" Brown said. "We all have something to do, and we can all do a little better."
– It used to be you'd be heavily fined if you turned on your water too much or for an unapproved reason in parched California. Now many of those restrictions are about to be dismissed, with a reversal of the state mandate for a 25% drop in city water use, the New York Times reports. Instead, thanks to the hard work of everyday Californians and a precipitation-filled winter that partly restocked the area's reservoirs and mountain snowpacks, the State Water Resources Control Board is rolling back its rules on keeping tabs on how long people shower or water their lawns, allowing local communities to come up with their own conservation methods. "We are still in a drought, but we are no longer in the-worst-snow-pack-in-500-years drought," says Felicia Marcus, the head of the SWRCB. By putting the conservation power back into the hands of each community as of June 1, those areas can come up with the best plan based on their particular area's water supply, which varies greatly from place to place. But a climate manager on the water board warns this is still just a trial run, with the National Drought Mitigation Center noting in the Sacramento Bee that 70% of the state is still in "severe," "extreme," or "exceptional" drought. The AP notes that certain bans, such as spraying down sidewalks with a hose, will permanently remain.