Posts

San Diego County Water Authority Water Resources Specialist Efren Lopez joined CBS 8’s Carlo Cechetto to discuss additional ways San Diegans can reduce their water use. Photo: CBS 8 water saving tips

Water Authority Offers Water Saving Tips on CBS 8

As the current drought stretches into a third year, the San Diego County Water Authority is providing water saving tips as part of a drought survival kit to San Diegans.

Scientists confirm California and the Southwest U.S. is experiencing the worst megadrought in the last 1,200 years. It has prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to order new emergency water rules and cutbacks with the goal of preparing the state for a 10% decrease in the available water supply by 2040.

“The hots are getting a lot hotter, the dries are getting a lot drier and … the wets are getting wetter,” Newsom said in announcing the plan at a desalination plant under construction in Antioch, 45 miles inland from San Francisco, that will turn brackish water into drinking water.

Water saving tips

Many years ago, San Diego regional water leaders had the foresight to call for conservation efforts to help build our resilience. Now we are in a more fortunate position thanks to our diversified water supply than much of the state.

San Diegans have learned how to conserve water, but there is always more we can do. San Diego County Water Authority Water Resources Specialist Efren Lopez joined CBS 8 Anchor and Reporter Carlo Cecchetto on the news program “The Four” to discuss the Governor’s report and offer additional ways San Diegans can reduce water use.

Water conservation is a way of life

“San Diego’s great at conservation. Conservation is a way of life here, but there is always something more we can do,” said Lopez. He suggests homeowners use a shutoff nozzle when hand watering using their garden hose and test soil with a moisture sensor to determine when soil is dry enough before irrigating.

In addition to water-saving measures, San Diego County residents can take advantage of the Water Authority’s rebate programs for turf replacement, irrigation devices, and WaterSmart landscape gardens. Countywide, San Diegans have removed more than one million square feet of turf through rebate programs, resulting in annual water savings of 36.5 million gallons.

“In San Diego, we’ve been diversifying our water supply for decades,” said Lopez. “So we’re prepared for this drought. It’s great to see the governor supportive of resilient supplies and a portfolio approach to our water supply so that we don’t rely on just one source.”

Lopez encouraged San Diego County residents to get additional tips for saving water at www.watersmartSD.org.

Metropolitan Board Advances Major Recycled Water Project

The Metropolitan Water District board voted to begin environmental planning work on what would be one of the largest advanced purified wastewater treatment plants in the world.

Metropolitan officials said the approval marks a significant milestone for the Regional Recycled Water Program, a partnership between the MWD and the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts to reuse water currently sent to the ocean.