More than half a million gallons of water dumped

As the California drought continues throughout the state, residents have made it their personal mission to conserve water. In Poway, just north of San Diego, the residents conserved 45 percent in May. While the conservation was good for Governor Brown’s mandatory cutbacks, the unused water – all 550,000 gallons of it – was dumped into a nearby canyon.

Because the water in the Blue Crystal Reservoir sat for so long, in combination with the heat wave, the water became stagnant. That lead to a chemical imbalance of chloramine, a disinfectant used to treat water for drinking.

Residents were not happy with the decision. Many wondered why the water was not used for irrigation. According to city officials, treating the water for irrigation would require more than 100 tanker truck trips to move the water to the Lake Poway treatment facility. While this was an option, it was too expensive for such a small amount of the city’s water.

“I’d much rather be standing here talking about having to dump a half million gallons of water than talking about people getting sick from drinking water that isn’t safe,” Poway Mayor Steve Vaus told NBC News.