California’s water use in March was the most for that month since 2015 despite pleas for conservation amid a record dry start to the year. Water used by residents to keep up lawns and gardens jumped nearly 19% compared to March 2020, state officials said during a media briefing Tuesday. The increase came despite a call last summer by Governor Gavin Newsom for residents to voluntarily reduce water use by 15%. The unusually hot and dry weather in March may have prompted residents to turn on their taps for irrigation and other uses, said Marielle Rhodeiro, a water specialist with the California Water Resources Control Board. Since July, the state has cut its overall water use by 3.7%, she said. Most of the state’s reservoirs , including its two biggest, are well below their historical averages, officials said. The accumulated snow in the Sierra Nevadas that melts and fills […]