by Ondine Brooks Kuraoka

San Diego will never be Seattle, and we wouldn’t want it to be. We love our sunny days; we simply need to accept our dry city for the desert beauty she is. As much as we want to frolic on large expanses of backyard lawn and revel in long showers, we need to begin to be mindful of every gallon of our scarce water resources, and adopt conservation as a lifestyle.

It can be confusing when we receive rain; we wonder if several soggy days mean we can ease up on our efforts to conserve. But we can’t. Though rainfall aids local reservoirs, we still depend on imported water for most of our supply.

“We transport our water from the Colorado River and the State Water Project, which is fed by the Sierra Nevada Mountains,” says Teresa Penunuri, community relations representative of the San Diego Water Authority. “So water, snow and precipitation levels in the Sierras and the Rockies determine how much water is available. Eighty percent of our water comes from hundreds of miles away.”

The current crisis is severe enough that restrictions on residential and commercial outdoor water use will be implemented by July. “Reducing the water your landscape needs is a big step,” Teresa says. “We need to change the way we look at landscaping forever. We need to create more California-friendly, water-wise landscaping.”

Also, Teresa says, “People need to think sustainably and be supportive of recycled water initiatives or desalination. The Water Authority meetings are open to the public; people can voice their concerns and ask questions.”

Ten Things You Can Do Right Now

1. Don’t wash your car at home. Take it to a car wash, which typically uses half the water. If you must wash at home, look into the biodegradable, waterless wash products now available, such as Eco Touch.

2. Don’t run the dishwasher or clothes washer until they are full (combined savings of up to 54 gallons per day).

3. Fill the bathtub half-full or less.

4. Fix leaks. “One running toilet can fill a backyard swimming pool in a month,” says Mary Jean Anderson, owner of Walter Anderson Plumbing walterandersonplumbing.com . “If you jiggle the handle and it stops temporarily, that’s not fixing the problem.”
Simple tests:
• If you suspect your toilet is running, drop food color in your toilet water tank and see if the color leaks to the bowl before flushing.
• Check if your water meter is spinning when everything is turned off. If so, there is a leak. Call a plumber.

5. Check your sprinkler system. Watch to see that you are not watering the sidewalk and that your sprinkler heads are all functioning properly. Broken sprinklers can waste ten gallons per minute.

6. Get a free landscape consultation and water audit from your local water agency to help improve your conservation practices.

7. Water only after 8 p.m. and before 6 a.m. to reduce water loss from evaporation and wind. Take rainfall into account. “The best way to determine if you need to water is either putting your finger or a shovel down into the soil. If it’s dry one or two inches deep then it’s time to water,” says Elizabeth Ramos, Water Conservation Garden representative thegarden.org .

8.Use mulch. “Two to three inches of mulch on any bare soil, and around trees and shrubs, will reduce evaporation and control weeds,” Elizabeth says.

9. Eliminate one irrigation cycle per week, or reduce sprinkler cycles by one to three minutes.

10. Use a broom instead of the hose to clean driveways and sidewalks.

Ten things to Work into Your Budget

1. Replace older high-volume toilets and use low-flow shower heads. Mary Jean Anderson says, “Consider ultra-efficient dual flush toilets from Australia, where water conservation is far more advanced.”

2. Make sure you have a water pressure regulator, both for your home and sprinkler system.

4. Install a grundfos pump. “Adding a grundfos pump to the hot water return line ensures that you get hot water much quicker,” Mary Jean says. People with larger, two-story homes often waste five to nine minutes of running water until it gets hot, due to the distance of the water heater. This pump moves water in seconds instead of minutes.

5. Replace your lawn with water-smart ground cover, trees and shrubs. “The lawn is the thirstiest plant in the yard,” Elizabeth Ramos says.

6. Or consider replacing your lawn with synthetic grass. Rebates are now being offered on synthetic turf installation. “Landscaping generally accounts for 70 percent of residential water use,” says Joshua Nunn, representative of Easy Turf easyturf.com . “Synthetic turf gives you an effortless green lawn, plus significant water bill savings- as much as 50 to 70 percent.”

7. Replace older, inefficient dish and clothes washers. For information on Water Authority/SDG&E vouchers, visit 20gallonchallenge.com or call 800-986-4538.

8. Install covers on pools and spas to reduce evaporation.

9. Invest in a “smart irrigation controller.” Watering times will automatically adjust based on weather temperature and rainfall.

10. If it’s allowed in your district, have your plumber re-route your “gray water” to trees and shrubs.