As extreme drought grips the Southwest, businesses across California are taking a variety of water-saving actions. The San Diego County Water Authority and its 24 member agencies offer business rebates and other incentives to help businesses save money while saving water.
The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board spoke with executives from the San Diego County Water Authority on Tuesday.
They discussed rate increases, what’s needed to secure California’s water future, and why we can’t conserve our way out of the drought.
Plus, they give tips on the one thing we should all be doing to improve our water situation.
New data suggest Californians are steadily reducing water usage in the face of severe drought, although cities and towns in the northern part of the state are cutting back more than those in the thirsty and more heavily populated south.
Water use in cities and towns across the state decreased 7.6% in June when compared with the same month in 2020 — significantly short of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s voluntary 15% goal last year, but a significant shift compared with the previous month, according to data released by the State Water Resources Control Board. In May, statewide savings were just 3.1%.
After California’s record dry start to the year, efforts to conserve water have created a patchwork of rules for residents that sometimes vary by city or even by neighborhood.
Emergency regulations took effect statewide, prohibiting water waste and requiring water providers to address a 20% water shortage.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California imposed stricter rules for several communities in Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
A major Tijuana pipeline collapse is causing a lot of sewage-tainted water to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
The cross-border flow began Sunday night, and is expected to continue flowing across the border at a rate of more than 30 million gallons a day.
An estimated 49.9 million gallons have already entered the United States.
Residents and businesses in some Southern California cities could be forced to let their lawns go brown in September, as emergency pipeline repairs cut off water supplies from the vital Colorado River for two weeks.
With a record-setting drought limiting other options, Burbank sent notice Tuesday that no sprinklers or other automated irrigation will be allowed at homes or businesses from Sept. 6-20. The city is encouraging residents to put buckets in their showers and mulch in their flower beds to help keep plants alive during the ban.
Olivenhain Municipal Water District is beginning construction this week on a new recycled water pipeline in Encinitas along Manchester Avenue and South El Camino Real from Via Poco to Tennis Club Drive. Once complete, customers connecting to this new pipeline will irrigate with recycled water, which will reduce demand for imported potable water by more than 10 million gallons every year.
When Jeanne Reutlinger moved to her Escondido home in 2019, the neglected front yard was full of weeds, baked by the sun, and car exhausts from the street. Three years later, Reutlinger’s vision and hard work for a natural low maintenance habitat created a pollinator’s paradise full of native plants. Her efforts won the 2022 City of Escondido’s Landscape Makeover Contest.
In case you missed the memo: Glossy green lawns fed by sprinklers arcing water into the sky just don’t work anymore in these days of lingering drought.
As the supply of water in reservoirs and wells continues to shrink around California, we need to change what and how we’re irrigating.
Public parks might arguably be good locations for large expanses of turf in Southern California’s low-rain climate, but around our houses?
With your new WaterSmart landscaping plans complete, demolition and turf removal done, and your new irrigation system in place, it’s time to get started on the plant installation. For most homeowners, this is the most rewarding part of the process seeing your new landscaping come to life.
