September 13, 2007

Santa Clara County residents conserving water

The residents of Santa Clara County decreased water usage from January to August this year by 7 percent compared with 2004, when the county received similar rainfall.

And the conservation keeps coming. The district’s Water-Wise House Call Program received a 178 percent spike in the same eight-month period while the Residential High-Efficiency Toilet Rebate Program shows a 282 percent increase and the district’s Water Conservation Hotline is getting double the number of calls.

Taking shorter showers and only doing laundry with a full load is helpful. However, changing out old appliances and replacing inefficient sprinklers will have even larger and long-term effects.

The water district has several programs that will help residents continue to save water and energy. These include:

- The Water-Wise House Call Program: A trained technician visits your home and surveys your sprinklers, showerheads, toilets etc. to show you where you can conserve.

- The Residential High-Efficiency Toilet Rebate Program in which the water district offers up to $125 in savings for replacing old, inefficient toilets.

- The Landscape Rebate Program, where residents can receive up to $1,000 and commercial, industrial and institutional properties can receive up to $10,000 by replacing irrigated turf grass with low water-using plants from the district’s Approved Plant List, or by installing permeable hardscape.

The district offers more rebate offers. Call the Water Conservation Hotline at (408) 265-2607, ext. 2554 for more information.

To help continue to conserve water, the district suggests:

- Watering the lawn early in the morning and no more than three times a week in the summer, which saves a thousand gallons of water a month.

- Utilizing a high-efficiency clothes washer, which can save up to 8,500 gallons of water and $75 in energy costs per year.

- Installing low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators save up to 35,000 gallons of water a year for the average family of four.

- Checking your irrigation system on a monthly basis to ensure it is watering properly, especially valves, sprinkler heads, and drip emitters.

Conservation will help the overall water supply in Silicon Valley. This year has been unusually dry and we need to prepare in case 2008 is also dry. The water district expects to receive about 20-30 percent less water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which delivers about half of our water supply. A U.S. District Court ruled last week that pumping in the delta would be reduced to protect the endangered delta smelt fish. We need people to conserve now, so we’ll have more water for the future.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages wholesale drinking water resources and provides stewardship for the county's five watersheds, including 10 reservoirs, more than 800 miles of streams and groundwater basins. The water district also provides flood protection throughout Santa Clara County. Visit www.valleywater.org/conservation for more information.