More than a quarter-million residents in Granite Bay and northeastern Sacramento County have been asked to cut their water use between 5 percent and 10 percent.
For efficient water use, San Juan Water District officials are asking customers to tune up their irrigation systems, fix leaky plumbing, and water their lawns before noon.
In announcing the voluntary program Wednesday, San Juan officials said the region's exceptionally dry spring triggered the Stage 2 alert.
The San Juan area water agencies are the second water purveyor group to call for voluntary conservation in the region. A Bee survey of major water districts in the region found most haven't called for reductions – and have no plans to implement them this summer.
In April, the city of Roseville adopted similar water use suggestions for its customers.
Officials attributed their concern to the shrinking availability of water from Folsom Reservoir. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the reservoir, cut by 25 percent the amount of water it supplies to water agencies this year.
Most agencies can make up the difference with other water sources, including groundwater, but some stress that next year that might not be the case.
"We can meet the full demand (this year), but it's the right thing to do to ask people to pay attention to water use. With the governor declaring a drought this year, the efficient use of water is becoming more and more important," said Shauna Lorance, San Juan's general manager.
The San Juan, Fair Oaks and Citrus Heights water districts and the Orange Vale Water Co., which collectively serve more than 265,000 people, decided to adopt the voluntary water use reductions to keep customers aware of the increasing scarcity of water. All residents in these agencies, except for some in Fair Oaks, have water meters.
Lorance said if dry conditions don't improve by next year, the water alert could move up to Stage 3, which would trigger mandatory reductions of 11 percent to 25 percent. The district has not had to issue an alert above Stage 2 in at least a decade.
Lorance said a typical household in the San Juan district uses about 30,000 gallons of water a month, or 1,000 gallons a day, mainly due to the large size of residents' lots. A 10 percent use reduction would cut that number down to 900 gallons a day.
Officials recommend customers take advantage of their districts' free water efficiency rebates, audits and plumbing retrofits.
The San Juan district does not employ water patrols to catch instances where water is being wasted. Usually neighbors will call about such instances, Lorance said, and residents usually comply readily when asked to conserve water.
"In general, our customers have done a very good job of reducing water usage, so we're asking them to continue that and be aware."
Call The Bee's Andrea V. Brambila, (916) 321-1201.
