Contra Costa Water District Customers Cut Usage by 19 Percent
For immediate release: August 12, 2009
For more information: Jeff Weir (925) 688-8194
Contra Costa Water District Customers Cut Usage by 19 Percent,
Exceed Goals of Drought Management Program
CONCORD – Responding to requests for 15 percent water conservation due to the current state drought, Contra Costa Water District customers reduced water usage by 19 percent during the first three months of the District’s drought management program.
"Our customers in Central and Eastern Contra Costa County are doing an outstanding job of conserving water,” said General Manager Walter J. Bishop. “The focus of the program is reducing outdoor water use and the data so far shows our customers have responded in a positive way. Their efforts are appreciated. We also know that our customers are seeing conservation benefits in their pocketbooks because at the same time they’re saving water, they’re saving money, too.”
The District’s 15 percent drought management program started May 1. The program did not raise water rates. The District sent proposed water budgets to all customers and informed them that excess-use fees would be applied to customers who increase water use or consume more than 1000 gallons per day. The excess-use fee was designed to give customers a financial incentive to conserve water.
The program included various reduction targets depending on the type of customer. Residential, multi-family and commercial customers in the District’s treated-water service area were asked to save at least 15 percent compared to their average historical water use from 2005 to 2007. Agencies that buy untreated water from the District were asked to save 15 percent. In an effort to avoid economic impact on major industrial businesses that support a large job base in the area, the District asked industrial customers that buy untreated water to reduce usage by five percent. Irrigators that buy untreated water, primarily for landscaping purposes, were asked to cut water use by 45 percent. In regions outside the District that are served from the Delta, such as San Joaquin, irrigators are subject to a 90 percent cut.
Through July, 90 percent of the District’s treated-water customers lived within their water budgets, saving water and money. Only 10 percent, meanwhile, incurred excess-use charges because they either increased water usage or failed to live within their requested water budget.
In addition to deliberately deciding to conserve water, customers have signed up in record numbers for the District’s free conservation audits and cash-rebate programs for purchasing water-efficient washing machines and low-flow toilets.
“Our customers are being extremely responsive to the fact that we’re in a third year of drought and may face more dry years ahead,” Bishop said. “This three-month snapshot of our drought program is encouraging, but we have several hot weather months ahead. We need continued cooperation from our customers as all of us adapt to these circumstances of reduced water supplies available throughout the State. ”
The District’s treated-water service area includes Concord, Clayton, Clyde, Pacheco, Port Costa, and portions of Martinez, Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek. The District’s untreated-water service area includes Antioch, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Oakley and part of Martinez.
For more information about the Drought Management Program and the District’s free water conservation services and device replacement incentives, visit www.ccwater.com.
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