"The cooler months are when outdoor water use plummets and residents and homeowners can only shave water consumption by taking shorter showers and flushing toilets less often." Yikes!
Irvine Ranch Water District hits conservation target
Jan. 21, 2016 Updated 2:08 p.m.
By STAFF REPORT
Irvine Ranch Water District was one of only two Orange County districts to meet its water use conservation targets in November, according to the latest data released by the state.
Irvine Ranch conserved 18.3 percent; Santa Ana also hit its target, with 12.7 percent. That was as Newport Beach and the Mesa Water District fell further behind water use conservation targets, with 15.5 percent and 5.6 percent conserved, respectively.
Despite the conservation slow-down this winter, more than two-thirds of local districts in the county are on track to meet their targets by the state?s February deadline. Eight districts are behind.
The biggest laggard is Newport Beach, which has a mandate to cut 28 percent and has only cut 20.1 percent since June, when the state conservation mandate started. Mesa has a target of 20 percent and has hit 18.9 percent.
With temperatures falling, it will get more difficult to trim water use. The cooler months are when outdoor water use plummets and residents and homeowners can only shave water consumption by taking shorter showers and flushing toilets less often.
?We use less water for outdoor irrigation in the winter months and therefore there is less water to conserve,? said Rob Hunter, the general manager at Municipal Water District of Orange County.
Especially in Orange County, water-sipping indoor appliances such as showerheads and washing machines are already the norm, Hunter said. Well over 98 percent of toilets in Orange County are low-flow, for instance.
El Ni?o-driven rainstorms in Orange County also helped perk up local trees, grass and gardens, but do little for long-term water supplies. The county gets about half its water from sources outside the region, namely Northern California, via the State Water Project, and the Rocky Mountains, via the Colorado River.
Much of the rain that falls in Orange County gets directed into storm drain channels that ferry it out to the ocean. Stormwater from the Inland Empire is more likely to replenish local aquifers as it flows down the Santa Ana River and into groundwater recharge basins in Anaheim managed by the Orange County Water District.
Presuming the regulations are extended past the original February deadline, as is likely, the state board plans to adjust how much districts must conserve by adding conservation credits for drought-resilient projects such as recycling, and for population growth since 2013.
Irvine Ranch Water District hits conservation target
Jan. 21, 2016 Updated 2:08 p.m.
By STAFF REPORT
Irvine Ranch Water District was one of only two Orange County districts to meet its water use conservation targets in November, according to the latest data released by the state.
Irvine Ranch conserved 18.3 percent; Santa Ana also hit its target, with 12.7 percent. That was as Newport Beach and the Mesa Water District fell further behind water use conservation targets, with 15.5 percent and 5.6 percent conserved, respectively.
Despite the conservation slow-down this winter, more than two-thirds of local districts in the county are on track to meet their targets by the state?s February deadline. Eight districts are behind.
The biggest laggard is Newport Beach, which has a mandate to cut 28 percent and has only cut 20.1 percent since June, when the state conservation mandate started. Mesa has a target of 20 percent and has hit 18.9 percent.
With temperatures falling, it will get more difficult to trim water use. The cooler months are when outdoor water use plummets and residents and homeowners can only shave water consumption by taking shorter showers and flushing toilets less often.
?We use less water for outdoor irrigation in the winter months and therefore there is less water to conserve,? said Rob Hunter, the general manager at Municipal Water District of Orange County.
Especially in Orange County, water-sipping indoor appliances such as showerheads and washing machines are already the norm, Hunter said. Well over 98 percent of toilets in Orange County are low-flow, for instance.
El Ni?o-driven rainstorms in Orange County also helped perk up local trees, grass and gardens, but do little for long-term water supplies. The county gets about half its water from sources outside the region, namely Northern California, via the State Water Project, and the Rocky Mountains, via the Colorado River.
Much of the rain that falls in Orange County gets directed into storm drain channels that ferry it out to the ocean. Stormwater from the Inland Empire is more likely to replenish local aquifers as it flows down the Santa Ana River and into groundwater recharge basins in Anaheim managed by the Orange County Water District.
Presuming the regulations are extended past the original February deadline, as is likely, the state board plans to adjust how much districts must conserve by adding conservation credits for drought-resilient projects such as recycling, and for population growth since 2013.