You are now in San Diego County category.

When I walk around my neighborhood, it’s clear that a new level of commitment to water-use efficiency has taken hold at the grassroots level. About half the homes around me have upgraded from conventional turf-based landscapes to attractive, low-water landscapes that are more appropriate for the climate of San Diego County. I see the same phenomenon across the county; residents and businesses are making the most of our water supplies like never before. In fact, we collectively use nearly 40 percent less potable water per capita today than we did in 1990.

The San Diego County Water Authority (CWA) annually develops an Aqueduct Operating Plan which was presented to the CWA’s Engineering and Operations Committee during the committee’s June 25 meeting, and the CWA plans to shut down its three Second Aqueduct pipelines which cross State Route 76 for inspection of the new relining. The presentation, which was a non-voting item for the committee and full CWA board, covered the Aqueduct Operating Plan (AOP) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2017.

State officials will continue closely watching water conservation efforts this summer after statewide savings dropped in June – although some still praised the 21.5 percent savings. Water districts in Orange County largely mirrored the state’s trends, with overall water usage climbing. State Water Resources Control Board leaders released new data Tuesday showing June’s water conservation was several percentage points less than May (28 percent) and less than June 2015 (27.5 percent). The state uses 2013 as a base year for comparison. In all, the state saved 46.6 billion gallons of water in June, compared with 60.6 billion gallons in June 2015, according to the figures.