With early signs pointing to a drier-than- average winter, residents across the Valley may be forced next summer to alter their water-wasting ways through mandatory restrictions.
But Elk Grove resident April Vail isn't worried. She's way ahead of her neighbors.
Her family uses half the water – about 258 gallons a day – that average metered customers do. The average is 550 to 600 gallons, according to the Sacramento County Water Agency.
Her secret? Five years ago, she replaced grass with native plants. "We just went for it. We took out the entire lawn," Vail said.
Water conservation has been mostly voluntary in the region, although Folsom adopted mandatory restrictions last month for its 19,500 customers.
Water officials are hoping for a good water year this winter just to stay even.
"We need to have a really good rainy year. (But) even if we have a good rainy year, the reservoirs are so low it could take a couple of rainy years to get us caught up," said Gail Tauchus, the county water agency's water conservation coordinator.
A third dry year would force much more extensive restrictions, said Sue Sims, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Water Resources.
Sims said early forecasting shows no sign of a winter wet enough to end the drought conditions.
Last week, the state announced the creation of a "drought water bank" to facilitate the sale of water from willing sellers in the north to buyers in the south.
The water bank will move water from big customers, but officials said conservation is needed from residential customers.
"Every drop we conserve now is one less drop we have to find next year," said Sims.
Water agencies across the region offer to help customers looking to cut their water usage. As a free first step, water agencies offer "water-wise" inspections, where agency staff or consultants will check for leaky appliances and take the guesswork out of watering the lawn. Most agencies offer rebates to help customers replace older, water-wasting toilets and clothes washers.
Jessica Hess, a spokeswoman for Sacramento's Utilities Department, said that in 2007 the department issued over 800 rebates on low-flow toilets.
The program paid big dividends for one commercial customer. The metered customer had been billed for 15,000 cubic feet of water a month for several years. After the customer complained about high water bills, an inspection discovered three leaky toilets.
Water loss from a leaky toilet can be up to 4,000 gallons a day, said Hess.
After replacing the toilets with new ultra low-flow models, the customer's April total: 281 cubic feet, followed by 316 cubic feet in May.
The city has five people on staff for inspections.
Vail said she'll consider a high-efficiency washer when her family replaces its clothes washer. But big savings have come from replacing the lawn with less thirsty native plants.
"It's a lot less work than the lawn would be," Vail said.
"We don't have to go out every week and labor in the sun with the lawn mower. We don't even own a lawn mower.
"With our drought and our water rationing," Vail said. "I'm really glad we did this."
Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.
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