[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 1/2/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

January 2, 2008

 

2. Supply

 

City looks to reduce water use outdoors; Voluntary program stresses conservation

San Diego Union Tribune – 1/2/08

By Angela Lau, staff writer

 

POWAY – Just because it rained recently, it doesn't mean county residents can resume carefree water use. To the contrary, the Poway City Council will consider instituting a voluntary water conservation program to encourage residents to take the issue seriously.

 

Unlike previous efforts, this time the city would focus most of its efforts on saving water used outdoors.

 

That would mean encouraging residents to cut back on the amount of water used for washing cars; cover pools and spas to slow evaporation; use brooms to clean outside areas instead of spraying them; irrigate lawns once a week in the winter and no more than three times a week in the summer; and encourage restaurants to serve water only when requested.

 

“Last time there was a water shortage in San Diego, most of the focus of water conservation were interior to homes – low-flush toilets and more-efficient showers heads,” Poway City Manager Rod Gould said. “Those were highly successful, but 60 percent of water usage in Southern California is outside homes in landscaping.

 

“That's where the focus is to be this and the next several years – to try to get people to be more frugal in water use and more thoughtful in what they plant in landscaping.”

 

The council will consider the program at its meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. Gould said the city hopes to help the San Diego County Water Authority reach its goal of reducing personal water use by 20 gallons a day to save 56,000 acre-feet of water this year, enough to provide water for 120,000 households for a year.

 

Water Authority spokesman John Liarakos said the county's major water sources are drying up.

 

The Colorado River is in a historic drought. The Sacramento delta is expected to reduce water production by as much as 30 percent, after a federal judge ordered the cutback to protect endangered delta smelt, a minnow-sized fish that is sucked into pumps.

 

The snowpack in the Sierra also is expected to be small because of the dry year ahead, Liarakos said. That was why the water authority launched its 20-Gallon Challenge in June.

 

Gould said Poway's voluntary program will get residents prepared for cutbacks that may be coming.

 

“What we expect is that as the new year unfolds, the Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority will announce tougher and tougher requirements that will go beyond simple voluntary measures,” Gould said.

 

That could mean water cutbacks, which would begin at 10 percent in a Stage 2 shortage and could reach 50 percent or more in the most severe shortage, Stage 7.

 

To encourage careful water use, Poway city staff members are expected to present to the council a conservation package Feb. 5 that offers incentives. Gould said that package could include rebates for homeowners who replace grass with drought-tolerant native plants or artificial turf, or use irrigation systems that turn off when it rains.

 

In addition to Poway, Escondido also is pushing conservation, officials said. The city is revising its water conservation ordinance, adopted in 1991, to match the region's goals.

 

One element is new regulations for landscape irrigation in new developments, Liarakos said.

 

Encinitas is proposing to increase water rates by an average of 5.5 percent, partly to defray the cost of buying water and partly to discourage wasteful use, former Mayor James Bond said.

 

In San Diego, the Water Department audits water use in residences, provides tips on conservation, helps citizens calculate the optimum amount of water they should use and encourages drought-tolerant landscaping. The city also has been attaching conservation messages to water bills, said Bill Harris, Mayor Jerry Sanders' spokesman.  #

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080102/news_1mi2poway.html

####