Average Annual Water Use

Orange County residents collectively use only about one-third as much water in their homes as people living in Los Angeles County-384,000 acre-feet versus 1.1 million. But the Orange County average use per residence is 21% higher than in Los Angeles. In 1990, Orange County households has an average consumption rate of 142,981 gallons per year according to Metropolitan Water District of Southern California projections; in Los Angeles County the comparable figure was 117,864. None of the other four urbanized counties in Southern California even comes close. Residential users were the largest consumers of water in Southern California in 1990, accounting for about two-thirds of demand. San Bernardino County, where a little less than half the water is used in homes, is the exception. Here is how average residential water use in the six counties compares in gallons per year for 1990: