Californians exceeded mandatory water conservation target in June

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Californians reduced their water use by more than 27 percent in June, exceeding the amount ordered by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown in the state's first-ever mandatory conservation rules amid an ongoing catastrophic drought, authorities said.

The successful cutback in water use in the first month since Brown's order was particularly notable because June was the hottest on record for the state.

"We need to keep it up," said Felicia Marcus, chair of the California Water Resources Control Board.

California is in the fourth year of the worst drought the state has experienced in decades. Brown declared the drought an emergency in 2014, and in April issued his order for mandatory cutbacks in urban water use, focused mostly on water used to irrigate decorative landscape such as grass lawns.

New conservation rules have been implemented by the state as well as local water utilities, including issuing fines to water wasters. Farms and ranches, many of which already faced severely reduced allocations of water for irrigation, were not covered by the order.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Sandra Maler)