When state regulators earlier this month ordered Sonoma County, Calif., to reduce its water use by 15 percent, they set 2004 as the baseline year. Officials will be comparing how much water flows out of taps now to how much was used three years ago.
In Petaluma, they already know the answer — 20 percent less.
“May was a good month,” said Steve Simmons, Petaluma’s utility manager, after comparing the city’s water use last month to May of 2004.
The city and its residents used 388 million gallons of water, imported from the Russian River, in May 2004.
Last month, that figure was 312 million gallons — approximately 20 percent less.
The reduction shows the value of Petaluma’s conservation programs put in place over several years, city officials said. In addition, the city is now using recycled wastewater to irrigate Rooster Run Golf Course, an approach that will become standard for landscaping when the new sewer plant on Lakeville Highway is completed in two years.
The county as a whole used 18 percent less water in May 2007 than it did the same month of 2004, the Sonoma County Water Agency said.
The reduction followed on the heels of a call for voluntary conservation first issued in April, when the water agency projected that required water releases from Lake Mendocino into the Russian River would leave the lake at its lowest levels in nearly 50 years.
The agency called for North Bay water users to conserve by at least 10 percent and also sought state approval to reduce those required releases from the lake.
The state agreed to reduce flows but also ordered the mandatory 15 percent reduction, effective July 1, so that enough water would be left in the lake for the fall Chinook salmon run. The State Water Resources Control Board said the county must use 2004 as a baseline year when gauging water conservation.
The order runs through October, and though conservation has been successful so far, officials warn that it will become more critical during the warmer summer months of July and August.
Like this year, 2004 was a dry year, with similar low rainfall. Cooler weather last month helped stave off typical summertime water demand for landscaping.
In fact, reducing irrigation for plants and lawn areas is an effective way of meeting the 15 percent goal, the water agency said.
Lowering the amount of time sprinklers run, as well as checking for leaks in your irrigation system and using automatic-shutoff hose nozzles, is also recommended.
Petaluma, which has an ordinance outlawing water wasting, wants to know if residents are over-irrigating their lawns or otherwise using too much water, said David Iribarne, conservation coordinator.
But the city aims to educate people who aren’t following conservation steps, not penalize them, he said.
“We’re not asking people to tattle on their neighbors,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to help everyone conserve.”
Conservation tips are available online at www.sonomacountywater.org and www.cityofpetaluma.net/wrcd. The city’s water conservation office can be reached at 778-4507.