Water Woes Addressed

Now more than ever, residents need to step up their efforts to conserve water. In early June, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order declaring a drought throughout California.

California residents are entering a worrisome water era, highlighted by a record dry spring that has dramatically decreased the runoff from the Sierra Nevada snowpack. Environmental problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are also restricting the ability to transport water supplies to Southern California.

The Metropolitan Water District, which imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local water supplies, has called for residents and businesses to reduce water usage and eliminate waste.

Saving water is as simple as reducing the hours of watering outdoors, where up to 70 percent of water is used. Residents are encouraged to eliminate one day of watering outdoors each week, and to water their yards only before 8 a.m. to reduce evaporation and interference from wind. This can save up to 25 gallons per day. Installing a smart sprinkler controller can save 40 gallons per day. Also check your sprinkler system for leaks, overspray and broken sprinkler heads. This can save you 500 gallons a day.

Inside your home, make sure that you have low-flow showerheads and water-saving aerators installed, which can reduce your faucet water use up to 13 percent. Another important step is to make sure that you do not have leaky faucets. A little drip may not seem like much, but a faucet that drips just five times a minute may be wasting more than 260 gallons of water a year. Your toilet uses the most water in your home. Replacing an old 3-1/2 to eight gallons-per-flush toilet with a new 1.28-gallon-per-flush (or less) high-efficiency model could save thousands of gallons per year.

Replacing your clothes washing machine with a high-efficiency machine can save up to 18 gallons of water per load. More than 10 percent of all water used in the home is used in the washing machine. Consumers can apply for various rebates for toilets and high-efficiency clothes washers from their local water agencies. Contact your water agency for the details.

Collectively, residents can do so many small things to save water. If the public successfully conserves water, it is estimated that the demand for imported supplies could reduce by about 200,000 acre-feet of water over the next 12 months. An acre-foot is nearly 326,000 gallons, about the amount used by two typical Southland families in and around their home in a year.