Another 3 Bay Area water agencies are struggling to conserve enough water amid the region’s grueling drought season and are asking customers to use less water to help maintain supply.
East Bay Municipal Utility District and Sonoma Water board members approved proclamations to declare drought emergencies on Tuesday. During its April 27 meeting, the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board voted to increase recommendations for voluntary reduction in water use.
Water Shortage
The board also approved to double the price that is given to homeowners if they opt to use drought-tolerant landscaping. The Landscape Rebate Program went from a previous $1 per square foot to $2 per square foot.
Last week, the Marin Municipal Water District declared a water shortage emergency and announced restrictions on customers to save water supply. The district’s board of directors unanimously voted to approve parts of a program implementing mandatory water use restrictions.
The program banned car washing, power washing of houses and buildings, washing sidewalks and driveways, and flooding gutters. The district also restricted golf course irrigations to greens and tees beginning on May 20. The district’s board decided not to impose outdoor watering limits to one day per week. However, they will be revisiting the decision after two weeks.
The East Bay, Santa Clara, and Sonoma water districts are imposing drastic measures to help save the water supply. Sonoma County’s drought declaration is calling California State Governor Gavin Newsom to act and call on residents to help, the San Francisco Gate reported.
“Immediate water savings are needed from all members of our community, including urban, commercial, industrial, and agriculture. We can only beat this drought if we act together. Today’s proclamation and earlier action by Governor Newsom will help provide tools to beat this drought,” said Sonoma County Supervisor and Sonoma Water board liaison David Rabbitt.
On Tuesday, the Easy MUD board voted to declare a Stage 1 drought based on projections that water supply will be less than needed to refill reservoirs this year. They also chose to purchase supplemental water supplies from the Sacramento River and requested East Bay customers to help conserve water by reducing their use by 10%.
