Urban Water Conservation

Looks like the state may be stepping in to set statewide standards. From the State Water Board's website:

The State Water Board adopted the “Strategic Workplan for Activities in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary” (Bay-Delta Workplan) on July 16, 2008. Among nine elements, the Bay-Delta Workplan contains proposed actions to address water use efficiency for urban and agricultural water users. The actions include an assessment of whether to develop an urban water conservation regulatory program and, if so, what the regulatory program should be.

• Public Workshop - October 1, 2008
  A public workshop to consider information regarding the development of an urban water conservation regulatory program will be held in Sacramento on October 1, 2008. The State Water Board will accept written comments on the proposal until noon, September 23, 2008. Refer to the Public Notice and Discussion Paper for more details.
  • Public Workshop Notice
  • Discussion Paper

Fine Priorities...

Reading the following article, I was again reminded that, here in Sac-town, the City would have generated more revenue from my brown lawn than it would have from my feeding of the storm drains. As a potential fine payer, what makes more economic sense? To let the lawn go brown and face a $748 fine, or risk watering the street and face a much smaller fine?

Here's the story from San Diego:

Since November, Bill Stephens and his fellow water cops have issued more than 450 warnings and tickets to water wasters in Riverside County. They've targeted commercial, industrial and institutional customers in the Eastern Municipal Water District from Moreno Valley to Temecula. This month, Stephens started to cite residents for excessively using water. After two warnings, homeowners will be fined $100 or more. Mike Lee and Michael Gardner in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 9/8/08