President's Message
Keep Up the Good Work - Let's Continue Being Efficient with Our Water Use
Thanks to above average rainfall throughout the state, for the first time in a long time, we have enough water to get us through the year. The Governor has recently declared the drought in California to be over and I'd like to make it clear what this means to all of us in West Basin's service area.
West Basin will no longer be subject to Metropolitan Water District's (MWD) water shortage allocation plan. Our snowpack is deep, reservoirs are full or filling up, and we're starting to put water back into the reserve water supplies that we've been relying on during these dry times.
The allocation plan required mandatory conservation and imposed penalties for using more water than "allocated" to each agency. Thanks to our communities' tremendous efforts, we were all able to stay under our allocation and save even more water than we were asked to conserve. MWD called for a 10% reduction in water use. I'm pleased to congratulate everyone who conserved and report an overall 20% reduction in water use over the past three years. This demonstrates that we can all be using water more efficiently on a regular basis and should continue to do so in the future.
We live in an arid region with only 13 to 15 inches of rain a year, most of which, due to development, runs off to the ocean. Southern California cannot currently exist without the1,250 dams and reservoirs that store water and import it from Northern California and the Colorado River. Unfortunately, this imported water is becoming less reliable over time due to reoccurring droughts, population growth throughout the West, environmental pumping restrictions in the Bay Delta, an outdated water delivery system, pollution and climate change.
Even with higher than average rainfall and sufficient snowpack to meet our needs through the dry summer and autumn seasons this year, the best way to maintain a reliable water supply is to continue the good water efficient habits that were established during the drought.
There are easy changes you can make at home and work to help conserve water. Here are my tips:
• By installing a faucet aerators in your sinks and shutting off the water when you shave or brush your teeth, you can save more than 5 gallons a day;
• When you install a low-flow showerhead and keep your shower to 5 minutes or less, you can save another 5 gallons;
• Washing only full loads of laundry or dishes saves 9 gallons a day; and
• Checking for and fixing leaky faucets and other plumbing devices, including sprinklers in your yard, could save you up to 37 gallons a day!
West Basin is doing its part too. We plan to reduce our dependence on less reliable, imported water in half by 2020. We will double water conservation, double the amount of water recycled and add ocean-water desalination to make your water more reliable.
If you haven't yet been on a tour of the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility in El Segundo, we offer a tour on the second Saturday of each month at 9:30am. Just call us at 310-660-6200 to reserve your spot.
We've recently opened our Ocean-water Desalination Demonstration Facility and Water Education Center in Redondo Beach and we invite you to join us for a tour of this facility as well.
I look forward to serving as Board President this year and to making great strides in being more efficient in our water use.
Ronald C. Smith
Board President