(AP) - State officials say strong water conservation figures for July show Californians are beginning to understand the dire need to cut back in a fourth year of drought.
Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, says that regulators are now turning their focus to the communities failing to conserve.
Officials are visiting cities that haven't responded to Gov. Jerry Brown's mandate to use 25 percent less water.
On Thursday, the state water board is releasing the latest figures.
In June cities statewide conserved by 27 percent.
Some of California's largest cities say they've again surpassed their targets.
Water agencies can be fined up to $10,000 a day if they fail to comply.
Marcus says she believes that peer pressure and the bully pulpit is more effective than fines.
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