The City of Sacramento in response to drought conditions throughout the region has declared a “Water Watch,” the first of six stages in the Water Shortage Contingency Plan, which describes how the City may respond to anticipated water shortages.
If dry conditions worsen, additional stages have increasing levels of water-use reduction that can be activated as directed by City Council.
“The City will be taking several internal actions to reduce its water use by up to 10 percent,” said City Manager Howard Chan. “In response to drought conditions affecting the Sacramento region and state, the City will be asking City residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10 percent.”
City departments are being directed to take actions like reducing irrigation for parks and streetscapes and ceasing non-essential water use for City programs.
Residents and businesses can reduce water use by decreasing landscape-watering times and fixing leaks in irrigation systems.
The amount of money people can save with water conservation rebates recently doubled, including grass conversions and indoor/outdoor fixture and appliance upgrades, which can be found at www.SacWaterWise.com.
“Activating our Water Shortage Contingency Plan allows us to make effective changes toward reducing water use in the City,” said Bill Busath, director of the City’s Department of Utilities. “This is an important step toward managing our water supplies during drought conditions.”
The City last declared drought conditions from 2014 to 2017.