A LBWD billboard outside Tracy’s in East Long Beach. Photo by: Jason Ruiz

For the third consecutive month in a row, the Long Beach Water Department announced today that the city’s water usage for the month of September dipped to levels not seen since 1965.

According to the Water Department, Long Beach’s total per capita water consumption sits at 111 gallons a day—the same numbers it was averaging in 1946. When considering residential only, however, the average drops to 78.5 gallons per person per day.

More impressively, mandates of the Water Conservation Act of 2009 require that urban water suppliers reduce their water use by 20% come the end of 2020, putting Long Beach six years ahead of the goal.

As Long Beach continues to fight against a historically dry year—the Water Department’s popular Water Waster app has seen record numbers of Long Beach residents reporting water misuse—the numbers for September reflect a 19% decrease in the city’s historical usage for the month based on a 10-year average calculated from 1998-2007.

“Despite the unusually warm temperatures this past month, Long Beach continues to be a leader in water conservation,” said Harry Saltzgaver, President of the Board of Water Commissioners. “We don’t know what this winter’s rainfall will bring the city, and we need to keep conserving as much water as we can today to keep reserves for the possibility of dry months ahead.”

Last year’s September saw a three-degree cooler difference than this year’s average, which hit 77 degrees for the month of September. Thus far, the long-term average throughout the year has been 73 degrees.

July and August of this years saw the lowest water usage since 1958.