Water-wasters beware

Newsflash: California is in a drought. All right, maybe you know that. But did you turn on the sprinklers in your yard this morning? What about yesterday? Have you patronized a hotel and taken for granted the clean sheets and towels daily? Indeed, there’s still a lot to be done to conserve.

New state regulations handed down last week impose more restrictions on water use, some of which will affect normal folks more than others.

“The big one is going to be the two-day-a-week watering restriction,” said Pete Bonacich, acting district manager for Cal Water in Chico. “That’s going to be tough for people to adhere to.”

He was referring to the new regulation limiting lawn-watering at residences and businesses to twice a week. That’s on top of another rule prohibiting watering altogether for 48 hours after substantial rain. Other new restrictions include restaurants not serving water unless requested and hotels giving guests the option of reusing their linens.

“We are in a serious drought and having these restrictions helps the public understand it is serious and we all need to do our part,” said Robyn DiFalco, executive director of Butte Environmental Council (BEC). “I would have been happy to see the new restrictions adopted last year, because we were already in the third year of drought. But, better late than never.”

DiFalco agrees that the lawn-watering will be the toughest rule to follow. She’s already received phone calls from Chicoans who have been trying to reduce their water usage by letting their lawns go dry, but have faced criticism from neighbors. In response, BEC is working on a drought campaign that will include lawn signs alerting people to their conservation efforts.

“[Some resistance] is common throughout a lot of communities in California. You have people who have different opinions about the drought,” Bonacich said. “Some are gung ho about conservation and others don’t like it. They don’t like to see their investment in their landscaping suffer.”

He added that in Chico, residents have been mostly receptive. In 2013, for instance, the average person used 224 gallons of water per day. In 2014, that number dropped to 180. While the decrease is significant, Bonacich said we still need to do more, and that’s why these new restrictions don’t come as a surprise.

But, restrictions are only as good as their enforcement, DiFalco noted. She said she’s gotten the impression that Cal Water isn’t doing everything it can to enforce the water restrictions put into effect last summer. Those included eliminating runoff from landscaping, requiring shut-off valves on hoses used for car-washing and prohibiting washing hard surfaces like driveways.

Bonacich countered that Cal Water is indeed responding to water-wasters. The first step is to alert the person to his or her wasteful activity and offer solutions. Most people are receptive to that, he said. Those who aren’t will be threatened with reduced water flow or, in a worst-case scenario, shutting off water altogether.

“We’ve never had to cut someone’s water off, but we did have three instances last year where we threatened that,” he said. Cal Water likely will start education efforts about the regulations in mid-April, he added.

The new restrictions have been criticized by some as being too soft, but DiFalco finds more fault in government entities, particularly the city of Chico and local elected officials, not taking the reins and really pushing the conservation agenda. City Manager Mark Orme confirmed the city had nothing in the works, but did say it was working with Cal Water and was waiting to see what that entity’s plan entails.

“Studies show that California really can live within its means [water-wise] if we really do implement all the projects available to us,” DiFalco said. “But we need government leadership and investment.”