Besides asking residents to conserve, City of Poway looks to minimize it’s own water use

From the North County Times:

A wetter-than-normal winter may have spared residents and businesses from mandatory water cuts this year, but the region’s water worries are far from over and the city has no plans to quiet calls for voluntary conservation, Poway officials said this week. “We’re not in the clear yet,” said Kristen Crane, the city’s water conservation manager. “We’re still heavily promoting wise water use and conservation.”

Water officials said Poway has also joined the conservation movement by studying the possibility of upgrading irrigation equipment in city-owned parks and public areas.

With this year being declared a ‘critically dry year’, the City of Poway has issued a Stage 1 drought alert. The city has determined that it needs to replace about 800 sprinkler heads, and is seeking a grant from Metropolitan to defray the costs. The agency is also hoping for a grant to install smart irrigation systems on the city’s properties.

Under a plan called “The 20-Gallon Challenge,” Poway customers have been asked since January to voluntarily cut back 10 percent of their water usage by not washing down driveways and sidewalks, watering only before 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., and turning sprinklers down, among other things.

In recent months, the city has turned off irrigation systems at city parks and publicly maintained landscaped areas and installed a drinking fountain for dogs at the Poway Dog Park that uses less water than a spigot, officials said.

Crane said everyone in the region needs to find more ways to conserve the scarce resource. “I’m very concerned about this time next year,” she said. “Where will we be?”

Read the full text of this article from the North County Times by clicking here.

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