Supervisors Discussing Water Conservation Strategies

By City News Service, photo by Shutterstock

The Board of Supervisors Monday will convene a brainstorming session with representatives from water agencies throughout Riverside County to examine conservation strategies and what potential policy changes may be warranted to contend with the ongoing drought.

Board Chairman Marion Ashley requested the meeting following Gov. Jerry Brown’s April 1 executive order calling for an overall 25 percent reduction in potable water use compared to consumption levels of two years ago.

During the meeting, officials from several county agencies, as well as administrators from the Coachella Valley Water District, the Desert Water Agency, the Eastern Municipal Water District, the Western Municipal Water District and the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency will be in attendance.

The three-hour workshop is open to the public. It will focus generally on developing new irrigation and landscaping standards, reducing consumption at county-owned and operated facilities and spreading the word about the need for county residents to cut back, according to Ashley.

He told City News Service last month that water agencies should redouble efforts to remind consumers that “simple things can make a difference.”

The governor’s drought emergency order is intended to remain in effect until the end of February 2016. The California Water Resources Control Board last week adopted an emergency regulation in response to the governor’s declaration, and area water agencies have since been scrambling to implement new rules in order to comply.

The control board mandated that several local agencies significantly lower consumption. The Palm Springs-based Desert Water Agency has been directed to reduce water use by 36 percent, and the Perris-based Eastern Municipal Water District is supposed to meet or beat a reduction target of 28 percent.

Beginning in June, all agencies will be required to monitor consumption activity and submit monthly reports to the control board. Failing to meet reduction targets could result in penalties against suppliers.

The EMWD has asked customers to slash outdoor irrigation by 50 percent. The agency has a tiered rate structure in place which charges ratepayers more when they consume water over and above predetermined levels.

The Desert Water Agency is restricting residential outdoor irrigation to three nights per week.

The governor’s executive order directed that 50 million square feet of natural lawns be replaced with “drought-tolerant landscaping” to scale back outdoor watering, which accounts for the largest drain on water supplies. He also called for:

-- restrictions on the amount of water used to maintain campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other “large landscapes”;

-- a temporary consumer rebate program to encourage the replacement of inefficient appliances;

-- a prohibition against irrigation systems that rely on potable water for new developments, with the exception of drip irrigation systems; and

-- a ban on watering “ornamental grass” on public street medians.