Why should you save water? And how?

Running water in a creek, a hot bath, a cool glass to drink—water is a basic human pleasure as well as our lifeline. But California does not have enough water to let us continue to use it the way we do now.

With most of its population, farming, and industry in low-rainfall areas, California has rearranged its “plumbing” more than any other state. Most of our water comes down to us from winter rain and snow in the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains. It is stored in reservoirs or pumped directly from our great rivers to cities, farms, and industry. Now this process is threatened. We in California must find ways to reduce our water use, because of:

All of us need to act to keep this precious resource flowing.

Curbing water use at home

Basic information on local water use in the F5C area (Berkeley to Richmond) can be found in the City of Berkley’s Climate Action Plan. To summarize:

  • Our area has cut its water use both long term and recently -- though some of this is due to economic trends such as declining industry.
  • Most of our water is used in homes. While about a third of residential use is outdoors, most is indoors – with toilets, showers, faucets, and clothes washing taking the largest, and about equal, shares. Leaks, which are pure waste, follow closely.

Basic tips on reducing water use follow from this general picture:

  • Outdoors, don’t hose down pavement (use a broom) or cars (commercial car washes recycle water). In your garden, choose drought-tolerant plants. Plant in fall so roots get established in the rainy season. Use mulch and reduce lawn area. Info on replacing your lawn is here and here. Water sparingly but deeply, and use timed drip irrigation if you have a system.Utilities offer rebates for converting your lawn or installing water-saving information. EB MUD's broad range of tips, services, and rebates to help you toward a water-smart garden are here
  • Indoors, fix drips and leaks, install low-flow and energy-saving appliances and devices, wash only full loads, turn off faucets, take short showers, flush toilets only as needed, and turn down hot-water thermostats and insulate pipes. Information on EB MUD rebates for water-saving appliances is here. Other water providers have similar programs.

A list of almost 200 water-saving ideas, including tips for offices and kids, is here. A web search will find many such lists. You can find game-like material designed for teachers and/or kids here, here, or here. EBMUD offers classroom materials on water saving here.

Estimate your water use and savings: If you live in a single-family home, you can track your water use through your water bill. But totals don't tell you much about how to save water, and renters may not see bills at all. The Web offers many calculators to help you estimate your water use and see effects of specific changes. Check out a simple one here, a more detailed one here, and one in the middle here. Utilities offer free water-survey kits; find EB MUD's here. (Returning it entitles you to free water-saving devices.)

Your actions as an individual matter. But reining in our water use and greenhouse-gas emissions to sustainable levels will take cooperation and strong public policies. In your community:

  • Look for ways to encourage your employer, landlord, school, and businesses you patronize to conserve water. Perhaps a system for suggestions or incentives, monitoring and publicizing use, a water-use survey (available free from water utilities), or signs reminding customers/users to conserve? EB MUD's services and rebates for businesses are here. Other water providers have similar programs.
  • Report broken pipes, open hydrants, or wasteful irrigation to property owners and/or EB MUD (1-866-40-EB MUD 24 hours for broken water mains, open hydrants, or other emergencies)
Reaching sustainability will need your vote, your letters and emails, your voice and meetings, and your contributions to nonprofits. Here are some areas worth your attention and action:
  • Increasing use of reclaimed waste water -- for example, using recycled water (purified sewage) on landscaping or for cooling and toilets in large buildings.
  • Spending to prevent water-main breaks. Because of aging pipes and our area's frequent ground movements, EB MUD, for example, loses almost 10% of drinking water to pipeline breaks.
  • Water rates that encourage efficiency – for example, rates that are high enough to encourage conservation. and that rise as use increases. Other possibilities include rates that vary by time or season, and technology such as metering that shows current use and metering of rental units.
  • Policies that encourage cooperation and rationality in California's tangled web of water rights. This includes basics such as monitoring and regulating groundwater (due to be introduced gradually following 2014 legislation) and accurately determining use and claims on water.
  • Upcoming decisions on use of water,  including decisions on drought restrictions, allocating water to wildlife or farmers, building-code changes that save water, water storage as groundwater or behind dams, new desalination plants, proposals for two large new tunnels taking water from north of the Delta to the Bay Area and Southern California, and policies governing fracking (fracturing rock of extract oil and gas). 

Finding out more: Many organizations do excellent work on water-related issues in California. Two with long track records of informative and responsible research are the Pacific Institute and the Water Education Foundation.The Wheeler Water Institute at UC Berkeley Law's Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment does thoughtful studies on policy, several linked to above.Recent research on likely effects of climate change in California can be found at Cal Adapt