It was the talk of my Wednesday morning Pilates class. "I'm letting my lawn die, but saving the plants. Plants are harder to replace." "We only lived in our house six months last year! How are we going to reduce 19 percent of nothing?" "We get our irrigation water from a creek." "We don't have any grass."
This was in response to the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) declaring a water emergency and implementing water-rationing rules, to begin August 1. Residential customers in single-family homes must cut back their water use by 19 percent compared to their average over the past three years. Apartment dwellers only have to cut back 11 percent. No washing your car without a shut-off nozzle. No washing down sidewalks or driveways, and any fountains and ponds should be filled with recycled water only.
Anyone who uses less than 100 gallons of water a day is off the hook. Prices for water over 100 gallons per day will increase 10 percent. Those who don't cut back at least 10 percent will have to pay $2 for every 750 gallons of water they use over that amount. EBMUD is hiring water police to patrol the neighborhoods looking for water wasters. You'll get some warnings for breaking the rules, but repeat offenders could have their water cut off.
For those of us who live east of the Caldecott Tunnel, cutting back almost 20 percent means that lawns will have to die. Most of our water use, on average, goes to keep landscaping alive. My wife and I are letting most of our front lawn return to desert. We will eventually have what's left of the grass torn out and replaced with native, water-sipping plants and lots and lots of mulch. (Right now landscapers are pretty busy.) Those who live west of the Caldecott will have an easier time saving water because it is on average cooler than on the east side, and lawns in places like Oakland, Berkeley, and El Cerrito are relatively small. They will have to save on indoor water use, however.
For help on saving water, and to find out how to get free low-flow fixtures for your home, go to the EBMUD Web site, www.ebmud.com. There is a bonus to saving water indoors. Saving hot water by using low-flow showerheads, showering or bathing every other day, washing only full loads of dishes in your dishwasher, washing only full loads of laundry in your washing machine, and using cold water laundry detergent, will save you energy and money as well as water. For those of us who don't yet have dual-flush toilets that flush a little for number 1 and more for number 2, it's good to remember the mantra of the 1970s water crisis, "If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow." You better explain that to the houseguest you host this summer from the flooded Midwest.