San Francisco has a right to be smug for a change.
In drought-ravaged California, its 837,000 official residents use the least water of anyone in the state.
The average San Franciscan pours out 45.7 gallons of water a day, according to the State Water Resources Board, which released per-capita totals on Tuesday.
This may always be the case: The fact that San Francisco is in a relatively cool climate, with small backyards and little garden space to irrigate means that much less water is needed than in other arid places with big yards.
The San Francisco Chroniclenotes this also means San Francisco is ahead of the curve when it comes to preparing for possible urban daily use caps of 55 gallons a day.
East Palo Alto, South San Francisco and Daly City also received high marks for using small amounts of water.
Water users in San Diego and near Sacramento were among the biggest users of water, with little in the way of reductions seen despite the drought.
