A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 2, 2007
2. Supply
Southland's dry spell could get worse; Every place that supplies water to the region is dry -- a pattern that could eventually produce what researchers call the perfect drought - Los Angeles Times
Water officials eye meager snow in Sierras - North County Times
Rain deficit to stretch to April; March saw high average temperatures and just 10 percent of normal rainfall -
Supply worries bring limits on water usage; Pessimistic officials concerned about possible drought next year - San Francisco Chronicle
Fearing drought,
Editorial: As We See It: New supply of water needed - Santa Cruz Sentinel
WESTERN WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
Warm March shrinks snowpack, hurts rivers - Arizona Republic
GROUNDWATER STORAGE:
Madera Co. water bank foes press fight; Watchdogs appeal tossed suit against proposed underwater reservoir - Fresno Bee
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
Development threatens to dry up Nipomo - San Luis Obispo Tribune
WATER RECYCLING:
CLWA Advances Recycling Project - Santa Clarita Signal
DESALINATION:
Guest Column: Costs demand public ownership of desal plant -
WATER CONSERVATION:
Editorial: Water wisdom; Next grounds for conservation: lawns -
Southland's dry spell could get worse; Every place that supplies water to the region is dry -- a pattern that could eventually produce what researchers call the perfect drought
By Bettina Boxall, staff writer
Nature is pulling a triple whammy on
It's a rare and troubling pattern, and if it persists it could thrust the region into what researchers have dubbed the perfect
Usually, it's reasonably wet in at least one of those places. But not this year.
The mountain snowpack vital to water imports from
"I have been concerned that we might be putting all the pieces in place to develop a new perfect drought," said UCLA geography professor Glen MacDonald, who has researched drought patterns in
"You have extreme to severe drought extending over Southern California and also along the east and west slopes of the Sierra, and then you have it in the
That, coupled with wet winter weather patterns in the southern
Thanks to a bountiful Sierra snowpack in the spring of 2006, the state's reservoirs are in good shape.
"We're watching this. We're not pleased. We're not worried, either," said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the region's major water wholesaler. "If it does continue, we have prepared ourselves for a multiple-year drought.
"It used to be we thought that geographic diversity was enough" protection, he added. "In 1990 or so, we realized it really wasn't."
Since then, the water district has constructed a large reservoir in
The region's water agencies have also promoted conservation and recycling during the last two decades, steps that have helped
"We believe we will be able to meet the needs of the city for the coming year and beyond," said Thomas Erb, director of water resources at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which gets about half of its supplies from the Eastern Sierra.
The snowpack there is shaping up to be one of the lowest since the start of record-keeping in 1940. Twice during the 20th century — in the late 1950s and the early 1980s — drought strained all three regions that supply Southern California, said Scripps Institution of Oceanography hydrologist Hugo
They usually last for four or five years. But "the scary part," MacDonald said, is that ancient tree ring records indicate they can go on for a couple of decades — much longer than anything experienced in modern times.
"We believe that there were much more severe and prolonged simultaneous droughts in those regions during the period 1300 AD to about 900 AD," he added. "Once you start looking back in time, you realize that what we've seen in the historical record — the last 100, 150 years, where we have good measurements — that's really nothing compared to what nature can throw at us here."
MacDonald agreed that the state's large water districts "are actually doing a good job in terms of planning for a five- to seven-year drought."
But, he warned, "if you went into a decade or longer of persistent drought that affected the Sacramento [River Basin], the Los Angeles area and the Colorado, you would end up basically taxing all of the those water storage facilities, from the dams on the Colorado to what we have here, to beyond the breaking point."
The big reservoirs in the
As a result of this spring's skimpy Sierra snowpack — it's at 46% of the normal statewide average — the State Water Project will reduce deliveries of
"One year a drought does not make, especially the way our system is plumbed. We have ample storage," said Arthur Hinojosa, chief of the hydrology branch for the California Department of Water Resources.
But he acknowledged that if the Sierra snowpack is poor again next winter, that "would probably create a lot of angst."
Maury Roos, the state's chief hydrologist, said that both groundwater and surface reservoir supplies were currently above average because of recent wet years — 2004-05 was the second-wettest year on record in
"These dry years come often in pairs," Roos said. "There is a reasonable chance of that happening. Hopefully not."
Bill Patzert, the climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, has said the Pacific is in an "El Niño-repellent" pattern that will favor drought in
MacDonald said scientists have found that periods of simultaneous drought in Southern California, Northern California's Sacramento River Basin and the Colorado typically have been marked by cold water in the eastern Pacific off the North American coast — a condition that existed this winter.
A 2004 study by a team of researchers concluded that the western mega-droughts that occurred between 900 and 1300 took place during a warming period that drove up temperatures in the western Pacific, producing an upwelling of cool waters in the eastern Pacific that caused drier La Niña conditions to prevail. The researchers warned that global warming could promote severe drought in the West.
"This is the billion-dollar question," MacDonald said. "Will global warming push us into another prolonged perfect drought?" #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dry31mar31,1,6782481,full.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Water officials eye meager snow in Sierras
By Gig Conaughton, staff writer
However, some said, if the Sierra snowfalls are meager again next year,
One
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Among them are potential droughts, a court ruling that threatens to shut down
"The State Water Project will always be a primary consideration in the water supply for
The water project and the Colorado River have been semi-arid, rain-poor
Reservoirs full
Don Strickland, spokesman for
He said that was because rain and snowfall in
But Strickland and other water officials said the State Water Project is historically fickle, flush with water one year and nearly empty the next. The fluctuations are due primarily to demands on the system that can tap out the reservoirs in a single year.
Last year, the water project was able to supply 100 percent of the water requested by water agencies, including
This year, the water project has nearly half of last year's supply.
Another year of drought would draw down the reservoirs to uncertain levels, Strickland said.
"I think we're going to be OK on water this year," Strickland said. "The big concern is what happens next year? Then the picture changes. If we don't get a good snowpack then the following summer could be a little dicey."
Region increasing reliance on water project
Meanwhile,
Before 2003, Metropolitan got most of its imported water supply from the
Metropolitan delivers drinking water to nearly 18 million
Last week, Metropolitan General Manager Jeff Kightlinger said Metropolitan got two-thirds of its imported water from the State Water Project.
Even before the news of the shrinking Sierra snowpack broke last week, a Superior Court judge in
Kightlinger and other water officials said they hope that ruling will be overturned or reconsidered by the current court.
Kightlinger said Metropolitan's own system of reservoirs would be able to sustain
Finding new sources
Weinberg of the Water Authority and Kightlinger, said the best way that
In Metropolitan's case, Kightlinger said, it has arranged deals to buy water from rice farmers in
Weinberg said the Water Authority, which supplies nearly all of
"Our vulnerability is really in the next 10 years," Weinberg said. "Before the transfer fully ramps up."
Conserving will be key
Both Weinberg and Kightlinger said that their respective agencies were already urging residents and businesses to find new ways to conserve water by cutting outdoor watering.
Water officials said they pushed the public hard after
Most water officials say that the opportunity to lower indoor water use is nearly exhausted, and, officials add, 50 percent, and sometimes more, of all residential water use is outdoor water use. Water poured onto thirsty lawns, gardens and landscapes. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/01/news/sandiego/18_53_083_31_07.txt
Rain deficit to stretch to April; March saw high average temperatures and just 10 percent of normal rainfall
Redding Record Searchlight – 4/1/07
By Scott Mobley, staff writer
The winter of 2006-2007 has dealt the north state a dry double-decker.
And there's little chance that any kind of damp April will dent the daunting precipitation deficit, let alone erase it.
The
The parched March follows the second-driest January in
The March rainfall haul was just as meager in the mountains and foothills, where gauges may catch up to twice the precipitation that falls on the valley.
Shasta Dam got a mere 0.68 inches of rain. That's less than 8 percent of the 8.92 inches that normally falls during March. The last March that dry at the dam was 1994, when just 0.57 inches fell.
The lack of rainfall had an upside. The northern
The mercury soared to 87 degrees in
All told, afternoon temperatures in
The jet stream in March arched through southern
A couple of rogue low-pressure cells broke away from the jet stream and wandered down through
April can bring copious showers to the far northern
Season-to-date precipitation totals are slender after sitting out January and March, traditionally the year's wettest and fourth-wettest months.
The
Season totals to date at Shasta Dam average 55.41 inches. So far this season, the dam has snagged 28.77 inches, or just 52 percent of the norm.
Yet the water level in
Dam operators last year had opened the gates to prevent the near-constant rains drenching the mountains from pushing the lake over the top of the spillway.
A hot summer certainly will draw down reservoirs, making
Some long-range forecasters think abnormally cold sea-surface temperatures appearing in the equatorial Pacific off South America -- a recurrent condition known as La Nina -- could drive the jet stream well north of
http://redding.com/news/2007/apr/01/rain-deficit-to-stretch-to-april/
Supply worries bring limits on water usage; Pessimistic officials concerned about possible drought next year
San Francisco Chronicle – 4/1/07
By Janine DeFao, staff writer
(04-01) 04:00 PDT Santa Cruz -- The first local effects of California's unusually dry winter are about to show up in Surf City, where residents who give their lawns a daytime drink could end up with a ticket and the threat of having their water turned off.
For the first time in 15 years, this coastal city is worried about running low on water and will restrict when and how people can use it. Turning on sprinklers or open hoses between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. will be banned starting May 1, and anyone who violates the rule can be punished by a $60 fine.
"This is really a precautionary thing," said Toby Goddard, the city's water conservation manager. "It would be irresponsible for us not to take some action in this critically dry year in case we have a dry year again next year."
People around the Bay Area might face restrictions similar to those in
Such restrictions follow the cyclical nature of
When
Even more stringent rationing, with daily limits of 50 gallons per person, were imposed in Marin during the 1975-77 drought, when
Marin and
Santa Cruz's Loch Lomond reservoir also is in fine shape, but the area gets 70 percent of its water from surface sources including springs, streams and the San Lorenzo River, Goddard said. The reservoir holds only half a year's supply of water, and officials fear it could dwindle during summer months when water usage jumps to 14 million to 15 million gallons per day from 8 million gallons per day in winter.
With
That led the city's water department -- which serves 90,000 customers in
Daytime use of drip irrigation and hoses with hand shutoff valves will be allowed, as will car washing, Goddard said.
Professional landscapers will be allowed to apply for an exemption from the restrictions.
Officials said they expect the rules to reduce water use by only about 5 percent, but they said the restrictions will help bring public attention to the importance of conservation in a dry year.
Goddard also said enforcement will be increased, with the possibility that repeat violators could have their water service turned off.
That's good news to Ros Munro, who said she is irked when she sees water from the sprinklers at her neighbors' empty vacation homes spilling into the street.
The self-described "water-wise" Munro was watering her front garden Friday before putting down mulch to help stop evaporation. She saves rainwater from her downspouts to use in the garden, which she has planted with drought-tolerant plants such as poppies and lavender.
She said she's not worried that the water restrictions will harm her carefully tended plot.
"If things die, things die. I'm not stressed about it," she said. "I want to play my part."
Those sentiments were shared by other residents of a beach town known for its environmental ethos.
"I'd like everybody to share the burden," Joe Troise said as he washed his car -- something he does only twice a year, he was quick to add.
But Troise, who recently moved from
"I don't recall any high level of enforcement or compliance," he said.
Bill Kocher, director of
"If next winter looks like this year, people will be thanking us," he said.
And if it doesn't?
"We're water people," he said. "We're paid to be pessimists." #
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/01/SANTACRUZ.TMP
Fearing drought,
Associated Press – 4/1/07
After that, violators who turn on lawn sprinklers or hoses between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. could receive a $60 fine. The city is not restricting daytime use of drip irrigation and hoses with hand shut-off valves, and residents can still wash their cars. Professional landscapers will be allowed to apply for an exemption from the restrictions.
Officials are warning that enforcement will be increased, and repeat violators could have their water service turned off.
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"This is really a precautionary thing," said Toby Goddard, the city's water conservation manager. "It would be irresponsible for us not to take some action in this critically dry year in case we have a dry year again next year."
The restrictions will reduce water consumption by about 5 percent and prepare residents for the possibility of more severe restrictions in even drier years.
"If next winter looks like this year, people will be thanking us," said Bill Kocher, director of
Reservoirs serving Santa Cruz's 55,000 residents rely on water that falls locally, and they still have plenty of water -- but water district managers are concerned that rainfall could be less than normal for several years straight. That's what happened in 1992, the last time the central
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/02/news/state/4107182250.txt
Editorial: As We See It: New supply of water needed
In 1976, the first of back-to-back drought years settled over
It was then that residents of
Now it's 2007, and another dry year has affected the city. But things are different. Water conservation has become standard practice. New construction as well as retrofitting has resulted in toilets that use less than half the water. Some urinals use either no water at all or a minuscule amount.
Santa Cruzans year in and year out do a remarkable job of conserving water. It's a new ethic when it comes to preserving natural resources.
Alas, what hasn't happened during the last three decades is the development of any new water sources. That failing affects the city of
City Water Director Bill Kocher estimates that Loch Lomond Reservoir — the source for much of the city's summer water — will be less than half filled by the time summer ends. Another dry year next year could put the supply at a dangerous level.
True, the city will go through a series of water-conservation moves. In fact, it already has. Last week, the city announced mandatory cutbacks effective May 1, including a ban on watering outdoor gardens during the day. Also limited will be the washing of cars, at least from a hose at a private home.
The city serves not only those within the city limits, but also an additional 35,000 people who live outside the city limits.
The lesson from this is the need to develop a new water source. Even with conservation, more supply will be needed. The city currently is testing a desalination project, one that could result in an emergency supply of water for drought years. For example, in the event of a low-rainfall season, the desalination project could supplement the supply with treated seawater.
We hope that elected leaders will see the need to proceed on finding more water. It's their responsibility to see that basic services are provided to their customers.
We also recommend that water officials look toward new technology, including one proposed program that involves treating water far out in the bay and then bringing in a supplemental supply for delivery.
There are new technologies. In fact, emerging technologies have already improved conservation methods. But conservation has gone as far as it can go.
It's time to discover new supplies, and new ways of providing those supplies to an area that could run short, especially during a drought. #
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/April/01/edit/stories/01edit.htm
WESTERN WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
Warm March shrinks snowpack, hurts rivers
Arizona Republic– 4/2/07
By Shaun McKinnon, staff writer
March's warm weather wiped out deep chunks of the West's snowpack, further reducing the amount of runoff into storage reservoirs.
Snowpack has fallen to just 2 percent of normal on the central Mogollon Rim and 8 percent of normal on the
The state's major rivers likely will produce just 40 to 45 percent of normal runoff this year, extending a 12-year drought. The Natural Resources Conservation Service will issue final water forecasts this week.
Conditions worsened in March on the
The river likely will have barely half of its usual spring and summer flow.
"We had a warm, dry spring, and the bottom fell out," he said. "This is the kind of thing we always fear." #
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0402drought-nosnow0402.html
GROUNDWATER STORAGE:
Madera Co. water bank foes press fight; Watchdogs appeal tossed suit against proposed underwater reservoir
By Mark Grossi, staff writer
After months of legal delay, Madera Irrigation District is poised to begin filling an underground reservoir with river water for farmers to use in drier times, but opponents again are trying to stop it.
The opponents -- Taxpayers Association of Madera County -- filed an appeal this month of its environmental lawsuit against the project. The lawsuit was dismissed in Madera County Superior Court last year on technical grounds.
Meanwhile, the irrigation district in the next few weeks hopes to start a three-year test, percolating millions of gallons of water into the underground basin. The water would be pumped back out and used as irrigation supplies or possibly sold to developers within the county, the district said.
The Taxpayers Association fears the water can be quietly sold to cities and developers out of the county for a big profit.
"We're against moving water out of
The project, called a water bank, would put water from the
The underground basin would hold about half as much water as
The irrigation district bought the ranch for $38 million in 2005 after opposing two water-bank projects proposed at the site by out-of-county companies. The district had objected to the earlier proposals because they involved out-of-county water sales.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has studied the district's proposal and declared it would not harm the environment. The agency is involved because Madera Irrigation District buys river water from the federal government at Millerton and Hensley lakes. The federal government runs the reservoirs at both lakes. The district intends to put the river water in the underground basin.
District board President Ron Pistoresi said the project has support in the community and among farmers, and there is no plan to sell water out of the county.
He said the underground reservoir would enhance water supply in a county that each year already overdraws the underground supply by 100,000 acre-feet. One acre-foot of water is about 326,000 gallons, or a one-year supply for an average
Pistoresi said a water bank would have helped this year, because the state is having a dry winter and river water deliveries may be cut back this summer.
"If we had our project going last year when it was wet, we would have been tens of thousands of acre-feet ahead ," he said.
However, Cobb and the Taxpayers Association remain suspicious, saying they will pursue legal action until they see no chance for sales from the water bank outside the county. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/30792.html
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
Development threatens to dry up Nipomo
By Larissa Van Beurden-Doust, staff writer
Already facing a water shortage and without a new supply, Nipomo is struggling with how to deal with new development in areas just outside its boundaries.
The Nipomo Community Services District is responsible for providing water to new developments approved by the county, which has control over growth in the unincorporated community.
While the services district has authority over providing water to development inside its boundaries through an annual allocation system, it has less control just outside its boundaries.
The district had wanted such areas to become part of the district through annexations. That would give it full say over how much water is being used and allow it to cut back when shortages occur.
Without water to give, the district was considering denying all annexation requests until a second source of water is brought into the district.
But the board voted 3-1 last week, with Ed Eby dissenting and Larry Vierheilig absent, against that idea.
The worry was that without district water, developers could drill their own wells and pump from underground supplies. That would cause the district to lose control, and groundwater could be depleted even more quickly.
Instead, the board members in favor said they would consider each project that wants water on an individual basis.
There are only two annexation requests pending right now, said Paul Hood, executive director of the Local Agency Formation Commission. Both of those have been in the works for some time.
However, that doesn’t appease everyone.
"I’m absolutely convinced growth is going to continue here unabated even without water," said Mike Winn, president of the district’s Board of Directors. "Houses are selling, so they’re going to keep building."
While he said he believes the county will work closely with the district, there is no control over what supervisors decide when it comes to growth.
That’s why Eby voted in favor of not processing any new annexation requests.
Eby said the fear that developers would start drilling their own wells was being given too much credit, as wells could cost $300,000 just to build. The policy was needed, he said, to control water until a supplemental source is found.
"The purpose of the resolution is to put the world on notice," Eby said. "Don’t even bother knocking on the door."
Studies have shown that the groundwater basin in Nipomo — the town’s only source of water — is being overpumped. Should that continue, seawater could enter the basin and contaminate the groundwater.
For several years, the services district has been planning to bring in another source of water. It had moved forward on a pipeline that would carry water north from Santa Maria, but a study late last year showed that project cost had jumped to $26 million — three times more than previous estimates.
A consultant is now studying other options for supplemental water, but it’s unknown how long it will be before that additional water is available. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispotribune/17014732.htm
WATER RECYCLING:
CLWA Advances Recycling Project
Santa Clarita Signal – 4/1/07
By Katherine Geyer, staff writer
The Castaic Lake Water Agency is on its way to constructing a $70 million water recycling project that will recycle 5.7 billion gallons of water per year.
After reviewing the environmental impact report, the board of directors approved the environmental compliance for the Recycled Water Master Plan project at their Wednesday meeting.
The main source of the water will be the Valencia Water Reclamation Plant, where approximately 163 million gallons of water is recycled each year, said Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency.
He said the project will take 20 to 25 years to complete, and construction will begin on the westside of the Santa Clarita Valley near the Valencia Water Reclamation Plant on The Old Road. He said the infrastructure will gradually expand toward the eastside of the valley in 12 stages.
The goal of the Recycled Water Master Plan is to help satisfy a state mandate to use more recycled water and construct a cost-effective system that will meet the present and future demands of the Santa Clarita Valley, according to CLWA consultants.
The recycled water will be used to irrigate landscape at golf courses, schools, parks, cemeteries, freeway medians and landscaping around industrial and commercial buildings, they said.
"The best place to use it is where there are large landscape uses because you have to build a separate system," Masnada said.
"You can't just blend it with potable water people drink."
The project will consist of pump stations, 275,000 feet of pipe and eight reservoir tanks. The pipes will range from 8 to 36 inches in diameter and will parallel existing pipelines that transport potable water.
"As far as flows in the river, there is still more water going down that river than there ever was historically," he said. "Leaving aside the differences in water quality, from an environmental standpoint, that's good."
Masnada said the water that will be recycled will come from the state water project, rather than the area's groundwater.
"Right now there's about 13 billion gallons of water per year coming into the (state water project) system," he said.
"In the next 20 years, there will be a total of 19.5 billion gallons coming into the system. What we're proposing to use is 5.7 billion gallons of the additional 6.5 billion gallons," he said.
Masnada said now that the board has approved environmental compliance, the next step is to identify what the first phase will consist of and eventually begin the design and construction process. #
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=47379&format=html
DESALINATION:
Guest Column: Costs demand public ownership of desal plant
By Ron Weitzman
Chapter 10.72 of the Monterey County Code, passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in 1989, specifically requires that a desalination plant in
At the request of California American Water, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors met March 20 to consider changing the ordinance. I was one of a number of private citizens in the audience who spoke against the change. My concern was solely about the deleterious financial consequences to the public of private ownership of a desalination plant for the provision of water to residents of the
In 2004, $16 out of the average $30 monthly Cal Am water bill went to pay shareholders and federal, state and county taxes due from a private company. That was when the rate base of Cal Am was $80 million. The rate base determines the amount of money a private utility obtains from ratepayers for the payment of shareholders and taxes. A public utility does not have to make these payments.
Now the rate base of Cal Am is $100 million, so the amount going to shareholders and taxes out of each average monthly water bill must be $20. That is money that ratepayers would not have to pay if Cal Am were a publicly owned utility.
I am not arguing here for public ownership of Cal Am, though our water problem on the
Here is why:
If Cal Am builds the desalination plant, its projected cost of $200 million will be paid for by ratepayers while the plant will be owned by Cal Am. That is not only an egregious boondoggle for Cal Am, but it also represents an increase in average monthly water bills of $40.50 from July 2005 to January 2009, continuing thereafter until the plant is paid for. That is Cal Am's own projection and contrasts with only $17.50 that an average ratepayer would have to pay each month to a publicly owned supplier of desalinated water, according to figures provided by the Pajaro-Sunny Mesa Community Services District.
The negative financial impact of Cal Am ownership of a $200 million desalination plant in
The financial case for public ownership of a large desalination plant could hardly be stronger, and the Board of Supervisors for this reason alone acted wisely at its March 20 meeting to continue the public ownership requirement of the 1989 ordinance. That decision was indeed in the public interest.
The special instance of the pilot desalination plant by itself is unimportant except that it would be a waste of ratepayer money because the large intake pipe of the power plant that it would be using -- 14 times larger than the National Refractories pipe next door -- will likely not be the one a full-scale desalination plant will use. #
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/opinion/17010273.htm
WATER CONSERVATION:
Editorial: Water wisdom; Next grounds for conservation: lawns
Providing residents a break on replacing old toilets with new, water-saving toilets was a smart move by the San Diego County Water Authority. Its voucher program has saved 102 billion gallons over the past 15 years. In that same period, it has saved property owners who bought upgraded johns with the authority's investment in $38,894,000 worth of cost-saving vouchers.
With 518,600 household toilets replaced, and low-water toilets ensconced in building codes, the water savings from the voucher program have declined. Expected to save 23,616 acre-feet a year, replacements now produce only about 18,000. If the toilets are here to stay, the voucher program for individual homeowners is not. The authority is limiting it to multifamily residential and commercial users, enough to make up the missing 5,000 acre-feet a year.
The authority's larger goal, however, is saving 100,000 acre-feet a year. After low-water toilets, the biggest source of water savings is where half of the residential water use goes: landscaping. So the authority has turned its investment in upgrading toilets to persuading homeowners to trade inefficient for efficient irrigation, thirsty plants for drought survivors and, ultimately, grass for a low-water lawn. These measures save 20, 40, 60 gallons a day with commensurate reductions (as much as 33 percent) in consumers' water bills.
The authority already offers free controllers smart enough to turn off the sprinklers when it rains. It offers classes to train and certify landscapers as low-water experts. It plans to work with businesses to develop ever more efficient watering systems – with grants and rebates attached.
After the age of 2 or 3, people demand toilets. That won't change. Getting them used to low-water landscaping offers appreciable, long-term conservation. #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070331/news_lz1ed31top.html
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