Dear Lady of the Lake,
We are in a multi-year drought and I am wondering what myself and my family can do to conserve water? I also have a neighbor that doesn’t seem to realize we need to conserve water and I see them watering their lawns and driveway several times a week, in the middle of the day and the water runs down the street. What a waste! Is there anything I can do?
— Wondering about Water Conservation in Lakeport
Dear Wondering,
Thank you for sending in this relevant and topical question. I guarantee you are not the only person in Lake County - and probably California - that is asking these very same questions. I am also very glad you and your family are willing to take some proactive steps to help conserve water. That is really the first step and one of the most important ones. Part of living in Northern California, during a time period full of variable climate shifts and changes, is knowing how to adapt to changing conditions. Being prepared and willing to do your part to be water savvy, no matter how big or small, is wonderful and I humbly thank you for your contribution.
We are lucky here in Lake County, in that we know where our water comes from, we see it everyday. When referring to drinking water, water in Lake County is sourced from two general locations; Clear Lake or the ground.
While we can “clearly” see Clear Lake water levels dropping weekly, we also know that groundwater aquatic sources are not finite, and some are also going dry, making drought and the need for water conservation immediately obvious and apparent to us all. It’s harder for residents living in other areas of the state to see this immediate need, as they get their water from far away rivers, reservoirs, or other sources. They don’t get to see the direct connection between their water use and the natural sources that provide their valuable water.
Being able to physically see and understand the direct connection between where our water comes from, and how we use it, makes it easier for us to incorporate water conservation during times of drought, like now, but also as part of our general lifestyle of living in Northern California. This understanding, or knowledge, puts the power in our hands, for us to be able to do something positive right now, to conserve water when it’s needed most.
Water saving tips
There are many small and big things that individual homeowners, renters, families, and small businesses can do to reduce their water use without sacrificing everyday conveniences. It really is easy to implement a few minor things that will probably go unnoticed in your daily life, but if everyone implemented these small things, it would result in a large water-use reduction.
From Save Our Water
Around the House Simple habits to Reduce Water Use inside Your Home
• Fill bathtubs only halfway or less.
• Inspect indoor and outdoor plumbing and fix any leaks.
• Install aerators on faucets, which can save up to 0.7 gallons a minute or up to 336 gallons a month. Check with your water provided to see if they provide “Water Conservation kits” that include aerators for faucets.
• If possible, install high-efficiency use toilets.
• Recycle Indoor water and irrigate your garden or houseplants (leftover drinking water or dropped ice cubes are great in houseplants or cement gardens).
•Take five-minute showers (or at least set a timer so you know how long your showers are taking and actively reduce them).
• Install and use water-efficient showerheads.
• Turn off water when brushing teeth or shaving, and wash full loads of clothes and dishes.
• Check with your water purveyors if they have any rebates or materials they are providing for water conservation and reduction measures, and if they don’t ask them to consider using available state emergency drought funds to provide some for their consumers.
More information on what to look for and how to install energy and water saving kitchen and bathroom faucets can be found at these two online locations: US EPA
and Minnesota CERTs Clean Energy Resource Team.
From the Drought.ca.gov Water Saving Tips page
In addition to the list provided above, here are some additional tips you, your family, and small business can follow to reduce water use and avoid water waste.
• Set lawn mower blade heights to 3”, which encourages deeper roots and reduces water needed to keep lawns green.
• Better yet, replace lawns with a water-wise, drought-tolerant plant pallet, called Xeriscaping. Xeriscaping is the practice of landscaping with slow-growing, drought tolerant plants to conserve water and reduce yard trimmings. More information can be found on the CalRecycle Xeriscaping webpage, scroll to the bottom to get additional links: https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/xeriscaping/.
• Improve landscape irrigation. Up to 50% of residential water use goes to irrigation, but the majority of water can be lost through evaporation, wind, or runoff. Using reduced water schedules and weather-based irrigation controllers can save up to 8,800 gallons a year. If you live in a HOA or POA, or work in a school, landscaped office facility or office park, ask your management team if they are also using these strategies to reduce water. If they aren't, ask them to consider doing so to save energy and water costs.
• Install drip irrigation in gardens and utilize mulch to reduce evaporation. For mulching: Check with your local firewise community on the supported use of mulch, type or size, as mulching too close to a building or structure can be a fire hazard. UC Extension has some information available for mulching in fire prone environments available at this site.
• Instead of power washing, use a broom to clean outdoor areas.
There are so many more tips that I can’t possibly list here, but a great resource to visit is Arizona’s Water Use It Wisely Webpage which has over 100+ Water-saving tips. The lists are broken down into categories such as outdoor, indoor, kids, and workplace tips so we can participate in water conservation at every avenue of our lives, for us, for our family, for our work, and when we play. This resource has been around since 1999 and I don’t know about you, but I think dry, desert Arizona might know how to conserve water, so their tips are probably very useful and practical.
Reporting water waste
In general, Californians are not doing a great job at actively conserving water and reducing their use. In fact, based on water reports from earlier in the year, even with knowledge of continued impending drought, Californias increased their water use by 19% between March 2020 and March 2022. Water use is increasing even with the Governor’s declared 15% water reduction goal. (CalMatters and DWR).
Without a local mechanism for enforcing water conservation measures, such as ordinances and funds to support “water conservation enforcement” officers (Such as within the Santa Clara Water District) and legal avenues to impose fines for “water wasting”, the real only option we, as concerned community members have for tracking and reducing events of water waste, is through a state-wide water reporting system.
This online reporting form is found at the Save Our Water Website. You can access this form through your mobile device or computer, and it’s very quick and easy to fill out. According to the Save Our Water site, “This site lets you easily report water waste from your phone, tablet or computer. Select the type of water waste, type in the address and click send.”
There is a drop-down list of options of the type of water waste for submitting a report. For you, Wondering, there is an option for “Water running into adjacent properties, streets, and sidewalks”. That seems like that would be the best fit for reporting your neighbor. While you might be concerned about reporting on your neighbors or local businesses, be aware that sometimes people are not even aware that they are contributing to water waste. By reporting through this form, the information can be forwarded to the relevant water provider, who can then send the water waster a notice and remind them of the water they are using and how to reduce their use.
If we don’t all participate in water conservation measures, including being aware of how much water we are using and reducing and eliminating waste, the State might put restrictions in place. That could result in restricted activities, mandatory water shut-offs or increased rates, even for basic water use. If we all contribute to improving water conservation now, by self-managing our own water use, and informing those who waste water, we might be able to avoid a catastrophic, but needed, enforcement action and step-in by the state.
Drought duration and future conditions
Wondering, you are correct in that we are in year three of a three year drought. While we should prepare for even another year of drought, the expectation of there being a normal to above average precipitation year is also expected with the occurrence of a conditional El Niño climate system for next winter. El Niño conditions don’t always bring wetter weather, but generally they do, and especially in the regional area of Lake County, based on previous years’ trend data.
For example, according to the Water Education Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA, “El Niño conditions can bring above-average precipitation to California in the winter, that is not always the case … [however] ... El Niño tends to make atmospheric rivers stronger. El Niño events in 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 drenched the West Coast with record rain. The last El Nino, a weak one, occurred in 2018-2019.” (Aquapedia El Niño / La Niña). Lake County suffered significant and damaging floods during the 2018-2019 winter, even during a weak El Niño.
NOAA is the leader in data collection, compilation, and interpretation for understanding weather events and weather condition predictions. When I wrote my column “Learning about Lake Levels” published October 17, 2021, I discussed the likelihood of a La Niña event influencing precipitation during the 2021-2022 winter. I had rightly predicted, based on data from NOAA and International Research Institute for Climate and Society, that we would see another year of low rain, reduced inflows, and would be in for another year of severe drought. Which we currently are.
I realize my namesake has magical abilities, to make grails appear from smoke (The Mists of Avalon by M.Z. Bradley) and swords appear from the watery depths (see any Camelot or King Arthur movie or reference), but in the case of weather and climate predictions, I rely heavily on past and current data collected by NOAA, and other reliable agencies, and the probability trends and indicators that point to oceanic pressures and potential future forecasts and outcomes.
In the case for next winter, it’s still too early to definitely know if we are headed into a weaker La Niña winter, or a wetter El Niño. Based on the ENSO climate record, over the last multi-year drought periods that extended between two and four years, such as 1977 and 2014, they were followed by several years of heavy rain and flood events coinciding with El Niño, and this is especially true for Lake County.
A really great resource for understanding current weather patterns and future predictions is the ENSO report on the NOAA National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center, which is updated every month on the second Thursday. ENSO is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which is a recurring climate pattern involving changes in the temperature of waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
If you want more information about current drought conditions in Lake County, CA, bookmark the State drought page for Lake County at this site: https://www.drought.gov/states/California/county/Lake. I recommend signing up for alerts, to get notified when conditions change or when additional orders or resources are available.
Sincerely,
Lady of the Lake
Angela De Palma-Dow is a limnologist (limnology = study of fresh inland waters) who lives and works in Lake County. Born in Northern California, she has a Master of Science from Michigan State University. She is a Certified Lake Manager from the North American Lake Management Society, or NALMS, and she is the current president/chair of the California chapter of the Society for Freshwater Science. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Lady of the Lake: Water Conservation 101
- Angela De Palma-Dow
- Posted On