This past Tuesday and Wednesday a thunderstorm soaked many parts of San Diego County. By state law, residents and businesses must turn off their irrigation systems for at least 48 hours after the rain ends. As a practical matter, irrigation systems can be left off for much longer after a significant rain event.
The City is taking advantage of this opportunity to conserve water. On Tuesday, City staff turned off our sprinkler systems in parks and other City maintained landscaped areas. We plan to keep most of our sprinklers off until early next week.
Outdoor watering accounts for more than half of a typical household’s water use in California, and it has become a focal point for water conservation efforts as the drought extends into a fourth consecutive year. The regional drought response strategy centers on decreasing ornamental landscape irrigation first, to minimize the economic disruption caused by cuts to water used by industrial, commercial and farming operations. Water conserved by residents and businesses will be stored in local reservoirs in case dry conditions continue into 2016 and beyond.
California faces some of the most severe drought conditions on record, with snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada at just 5 percent of normal as of April 1. Poway is under state mandate to reduce water use by 32 percent below 2013 levels – and a large-scale reduction in landscape irrigation following this week’s storm would help our community meet its target.
For information about water-use rules go to www.poway.org.
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