How To Conserve 20% During Drought
Due to severe drought, Governor Newsom has called on all Californians to increase their water conservation efforts and reduce water use by 20 percent. In line with the Governor, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted an emergency regulation on May 24, 2022. As a result, PCWA moved to Stage 2 of its Water Shortage Contingency Plan.
PCWA asks customers to pitch in and do their part to stop water waste and use less water. Below are some tips to follow at your home and business to help our water stewardship efforts. You can also take advantage of PCWA's enhanced water efficiency rebate programs or search for additional tips on the Smart Water Use page.
State Water Resources Control Board Regulations
Click here to learn About Emergency Conservation Regulations for Commercial, Industrial and Institutional PropertiesActions customers can take outdoors and indoors
- Stress your lawn and save your trees. Turn off sprinklers for winter and let Mother Nature do the watering. But remember to take special care of your trees should the weather stay dry. Follow this link to learn tree watering tips.
- Check soil moisture before turning on sprinklers. Stop by our main office to pick up a free moisture meter today.
- Replace older sprinklers with more efficient nozzles.
- Upgrade to a WaterSense-labeled, weather-based sprinkler timer.
- Water plants early in the morning to reduce evaporation.
- Check for and fix leaks. The most common type of leak inside a home is a toilet leak, which can waste 200 gallons of water per day. That’s enough to wash seven loads of laundry every day for a month.
- Add a layer of mulch on top of soil, 2-3 inches thick. Mulch is like icing on a cake, because it keeps the soil moist the way icing keeps a cake moist.
- Cycle and soak to prevent runoff. Some sprinkler systems apply water faster than the ground will absorb, causing water to run off your landscape into the street and gutter. Cycle and soak is a process of running your sprinklers in shorter increments spaced out over a period of time to allow for better absorption by the soil.
- Adjust sprinklers to reduce overspray.
Actions PCWA is taking
- Operating PCWA's western Placer groundwater wells to reduce surface water demands.
- Shifting a portion of wholesale demands to groundwater.
- Enhancing water efficiency rebate programs.
- Expanding canal operation hours to monitor for and minimize water losses.
- Meeting our Water Forum commitment to the lower American River by releasing extra water from our reservoirs for fishery benefits.