Lawn and Order: Evaluating the relationship between household income and drought restriction compliance in California

Abstract

In 2021, the state of California declared a state of emergency for a record-breaking drought and requested all residents to reduce consumption by 15%. The state introduced restrictions on outdoor watering and increased water rates to further curb demand. While restrictions and pricing have been found to be very effective at reducing demand, the restrictions in place affect income classes in different ways. Water use may be very elastic for wealthy households that can afford to pay increased rates and any fines they receive. For lower income households or residents in multifamily housing, it may be a greater challenge to reduce consumption if outdoor watering restrictions do not apply and they cannot afford water efficient technology. To explore the relationship income has with water use, drought restriction compliance, and total reduction, multiple regression models were run for each category for the 2022 year. Population increases lead to higher water consumption, but there is no conclusive relationship between income and water use. There was a positive relationship between water savings and notifications of water waste, climate and drought severity may be responsible for this result. Higher income water districts had the highest median of savings, suggesting that high income households have more opportunities to save water through outdoor watering restrictions and the ability to invest in water efficient appliances.