Congratulations to Rancho Santa Fe for being the biggest residential water user in California. We're still not sure if this news is worth celebrating though.
It was reported by the Los Angeles Times that a household in Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego county used about an astounding 13.8 million gallons by the end of September, according to a San Diego Union-Tribune survey. The area consists of ranchettes and hobby-farms which explain the extensive use of water. A water policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Santa Monica, Tracy Quinn, said that, "I thought 11.8 million was shocking for a single-family home, but [this] is astounding."
According to Curbed, Rancho Santa Fe's water extravagance is well-known, and for that reason, the Santa Fe Irrigation District, which also brings water to nearby Fairbanks Ranch and Solana Beach, was told they had to cut back from their 2013 use by 36 percent. The water district was previously held up for copious water use. Other customers which they serve were using an average of 584 gallons per person daily. The district's beating its mandatory restriction target by almost four percent at this point, which is probably good news, but the bad news is that this still translates to an average per capita use of around 357 gallons per day, while the state average is 97 gallons.
Jessica Parks of the Santa Fe Irrigation District said that Rancho Santa Fe properties are also larger because they often include orchards and groves of citrus trees, which tends to require more water, but that it doesn't mean that they are wasting it.
The previous owner of the title of having the biggest residential water use belongs to Bel-Air, which used 11.8 million gallons in a year, gaining them the name "Wet Prince of Bel-Air." Talk about water conservation, consumption, and wastage. Let's just wish we don't run out of water.
