RIVERSIDE, CA – In response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s proclamation issued on Tuesday, Oct. 19 to extend the drought emergency statewide to include Riverside County, Western Municipal Water District (Western) is urging customers to step up water-saving efforts.
Customers can avoid wasteful water use by not washing down sidewalks, driveways, patios, or other hard-surfaced areas, except in cases where health and safety are at risk. Additionally, with the seasonal transition from summer to fall, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and yards and landscapes need less water to survive. Customers can often go days or sometimes weeks without watering when it does rain.
“As the days get shorter and cooler, plants need less water, so water budgets decrease to match outdoor water needs. It’s the perfect time to dial back your sprinkler runtimes, or remove entire days from your irrigation schedule,” encourages Western’s General Manager Craig Miller.
Western’s water budgets support efficient indoor and outdoor water use. Unique for every customer, the total monthly water budget is calculated using the combination of efficient indoor and outdoor water needs, which ensures that each customer has the water necessary to support essential indoor use while efficiently maintaining their outdoor landscapes.
To extend the availability of supplies, the state is calling on all Californians to re-double efforts to voluntarily reduce water use by 15 percent. With the greatest percentage of residential water use resulting from outdoor watering, adjusting irrigation schedules, installing weather-based irrigation controllers, and converting to a drip irrigation system are some of the easiest ways Western customers can save water and stay within their outdoor water budget.
“Saving water when outdoor landscapes don’t need as much is one simple way customers can help meet the additional conservation goals requested by the Governor,” continued Miller.
To help customers, Western offers a variety of efficiency programs such as enhanced rebates to replace high water use lawns and inefficient home appliances, free landscape efficiency surveys, efficient landscape sample designs, and more.
Western is prepared to provide reliable, high-quality water today and always. Through regional water partnerships and customers’ water-saving actions, the region began this year with more water in storage facilities than ever before. Western customers can count on us to meet their essential water needs.
“While we have water to meet your needs, we cannot be certain if we are at the end of a short drought or facing the beginning of a long-term drought,” said Miller. “Our customers have done a great job to become more water-efficient, but more can be done. It’s up to every customer to step up their water-saving efforts so that our stored, imported water will last as long as possible.”
Learn more about how Western is prepared to handle the drought at wmwd.com/Drought. Western customers can learn how to water for fall in Western’s latest On Tap newsletter at wmwd.com/Outreach and access efficiency resources by visiting wmwd.com/WaterWise. Stay connected with Western on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for water-saving tips, enhanced rebate information and all the Western water happenings.
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Western Municipal Water District is one of the largest public agencies in Riverside County, providing water and wastewater (sewer) services to nearly a million people, both retail and wholesale customers who live, work and play within 527 square miles in one of California’s most populous regions. Learn more: wmwd.com.