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The city of San Diego fell short of Mayor Jerry Sanders’ call to voluntarily cut water consumption 10 percent last year.
The city government itself, the largest water user in San Diego, cut consumption 9 percent in 2008, compared to 2007. The city uses water in its buildings but also irrigates its golf courses and dozens of parks. City residents didn’t have the same success. They cut consumption 5.3 percent in 2008 from 2007.
The city government had initially been meeting the target under the previous metric, even though its residents hadn’t. Comparing July 2007-June 2008 with the same period a year earlier, the city and its parks department cut water consumption 13 percent. That measures the savings during the first year when voluntary conservation was requested. The call for conservation began in late June 2007.