Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Water, Water Everywhere?

If you've been loving under a rock, you might not know that our gorgeous, perfectly sunny, beautiful state is in the midst of a devastating drought. We all have to do our part in saving water.
To begin doing our part, Pacific Tower is having
1. Our landscaper/gardeners install low spray sprinkler heads that are designed not to waste water by wetting the sidewalks.
2. Our maintenance crew is now washing the catwalks with a mop and pail, swabbing the decks like in the Navy, instead of hosing them clean using a garden hose and lots and lots of water.
What can you do?  Wash dishes by filling the sink with water FIRST. Shower with a friend. (Yes, it's an old standby, but it works.) Google "save water" and see what you get. Try not to cry. If you must cry, especially if something really bad happens, then cry into a Tupperware container and freeze those tears for a NOT rainy day.

Below is Government info on the water crisis copied from NextDoor.com.

Q&A on San Diego's State-Mandated Water Use Reductions1d ago

Public Information Officer Robyn Bullard from San Diegans Waste No Water
Beginning Monday, June 1, the City of San Diego will be mandated by the state to reduce its aggregate water usage by a total of 16%, and the City must report those numbers on a monthly basis back to the state. You may have heard other numbers in the news, and here's an explanation: the state must reduce by an overall total of 25%, but each water district was assigned a different percentage, based on several variables, to help achieve that 25%. The City of San Diego's reduction target was finalized at 16%.

Based on questions and comments from earlier posts here at Nextdoor, we wanted to provide some additional information related to this challenge.

Q: "Will you be tracking my bill to inform me if I’m meeting my 16% target reduction?"

A: The requirement from the state is that the City, as a whole, reduce its water consumption by 16%. The City does not currently have plans to track individual water usage by each customer, but rather to step up its outreach and enforcement of water waste in an effort to meet that 16% reduction overall.

Q: "I’ve already done everything I can do –- there’s no way I can reduce my usage by another 16%. How can the City lump me in with everyone else?"

A: To be clear, the 16% mandatory reduction was set by the state, not by the City. That being said, it IS the City’s responsibility to communicate that mandate to its customers, as well as enforce the City’s mandatory water use restrictions that are in place, in a serious effort to achieve that target. We know that many residents have taken big steps in the past years toward conservation, and we thank and applaud them. However, we also know that there are those people (you probably know who you are) who are able to do more. Either way, what may seem like harmless privileges such as 20-minute showers, irrigating freely outdoors and other practices now become--in the midst of our historic drought--areas where we can cut back and recognize immediate savings.

Q: "I’ve heard that the San Diego region is asking residents to reduce their irrigation to two times a week. Does this include City of San Diego residents?"

A: Yes. More than 50% of residential water use can be attributed to outdoor irrigation, so this is where we stand to gain the most ground quickly. The City of San Diego is asking that residents please cut back their outdoor irrigation to two days per week, 5 minutes per day (NOTE: this time limit applies to standard sprinkler systems, but does not apply to landscape irrigation systems using water-efficient devices, including drip and micro-irrigation systems and stream rotor sprinklers). The following is a schedule you can follow to help make that goal easier to remember:

Odd-numbered addresses - water Sundays and Thursdays, for no more than 5 minutes per day.
Even-numbered addresses – water Saturdays and Wednesdays, for no more than 5 minutes per day.
Apartments, condos and businesses – water Mondays and Fridays, for no more than 5 minutes per day.

Also, beginning Monday, June 1, watering times are no earlier than 6 pm and no later than 10 am.

For more information and resources, visit our website here:http://www.sandiego.gov/water/. As always, we appreciate your engagement and feedback and will work to provide you with the information we all need to succeed.
Edited 1d ago • Shared with San Diegans Waste No Water in General