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Water Authority Urges Businesses to Increase Conservation

As the summer comes to a close, the San Diego County Water Authority urges businesses and residents to increase their water conservation efforts immediately.

Significant savings can be achieved by:

• Limiting landscape watering to no more than three days a week during the remainder of summer, and reducing the number of days when temperatures cool this fall.
• Shortening irrigation cycles by one to three minutes.
• Watering between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. to reduce water loss from evaporation.
• Fixing leaks and broken sprinklers promptly.
• Adjusting sprinklers to avoid spraying paved areas.

In addition, businesses can take advantage of programs that provide assistance or financial incentives to help cover the cost of purchasing water-saving equipment or taking other steps that can improve their water efficiency.  These programs include:

• The Commercial, Industrial, & Institutional “Save-A-Buck” rebate program, which provides rebates for the replacement of older, inefficient devices used by businesses for plumbing, landscapes, food processing, HVAC needs and more.
• The Large Landscape Audit program, which is available to commercial or public sites in excess of 1 acre to reduce overwatering. The audit assesses the efficiency of the irrigation system, identifies potential leaks, and determines the proper watering schedule for the landscape based on existing plant material.
• The Smart Landscape grant program, through which commercial properties may qualify for grants of up to $2,500 per irrigated acre to replace or upgrade equipment that will stop leaks, reduce water use, or otherwise improve irrigation efficiency.

More information on these programs is available at www.20gallonchallenge.com and clicking “Programs and Incentives.”

The Water Authority also is developing pilot conservation programs for businesses with large landscapes.  To participate in one of these pilot programs, please contact Carlos Michelon for more information at cmichelon@sdcwa.org or (858) 522-6756.

San Diego County’s unprecedented water supply challenges are growing due to drought and federal court-ordered cuts to water deliveries from the Bay-Delta intended to protect threatened fish species.  At its current pace, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the largest supplier of water for the Water Authority and the San Diego region, could deplete its non-emergency stored water reserves by the end of 2009.  If conditions do not improve, urban water rationing could be imposed.

Local water districts and cities are adopting updated “drought ordinances” that will impose and govern water use restrictions if water supply conditions do not improve.  The Water Authority also is pressing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers in Sacramento to take action to help fix the problems in the Bay-Delta, including approving SBXX-1.  SBXX-1 is a bill that would allocate money from existing, voter-approved bonds for water supply-related projects in 2009, including projects that could help alleviate onerous restrictions on pumping from the Bay-Delta, the heart of California’s water delivery system.  Chamber members can help pass this important legislation.  For more information, visit www.sdcwa.org/SBXX1_2008_0828.phtml