Whether it’s East Palo Alto and Hillsborough, Beverly Hills and Compton, or Richmond and Orinda, a huge disparity in residential water use is posing a challenge for water agencies as they try to curb consumption and write rules that treat all customers fairly. The massive difference highlights an issue that has become more clear across California as the drought has worsened: Wealthy areas are using dramatically more water than lower-income areas. In Diablo, an affluent community just over the hills in Contra Costa County known for its country club and tree-lined private streets, residents use nearly seven times more water - 345 gallons per person per day. But the residents of San Lorenzo, a working-class Alameda County suburb along Interstate 880, use a mere 51 gallons of water per person a day. But when it comes to California’s relentless drought, they are a world apart.īoth communities receive their water from the same source - the East Bay Municipal Utility District - and both are bound by the same conservation rules and rates.
Only 24 miles separate the East Bay communities of San Lorenzo and Diablo. California drought: Big difference in water use between wealthy communities and everyone else – The Mercury News
