REGION — Since the Santa Fe Irrigation District announced its Drought 2 conservation efforts, its newest reports have shown improvements.
The new level implementation began on Sept. 5. According to Jessica Parks, public information officer for the District, the data and feedback have been promising.
“In September, we saw a decrease in potable water usage which we were really happy with because the average daily temperatures in September were about 5 degrees above normal,” she said. “It was a pretty warm month, but we still saw a decrease of 1 ½ percent usage.”
While some may think such a percentage is not that significant, it is. Parks wants customers to know this is huge since a great deal of water goes for outdoor irrigation.
And the numbers continued to improve in October.
“The potable water demands for October 2014 were approximately 10 percent lower than our September 2014 potable water demands,” she said. “We want to thank our customers in reducing their water usage and ask that they continue with compliance of our three days a week mandatory water use restrictions.”
Since the implementation, Parks said, the District has encountered an increase in residential surveys.
“We actually have someone go out to the property, look at the property and help the customer understand where their water usage is going and ways they can be more efficient and cut back on their water usage,” she said. Parks continued, “So that’s actually a really good first step for anybody is to have free residential survey.”
The District is making this survey opportunity available to all its customers. As well, the District is offering many different conservation rebates and incentives.
In July, the District started a turf rebate program.
“In collaboration with the San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District there is a rebate for up to $3.50 a square foot of turf. If that turf is removed and replaced with drought tolerant plants, then the customer can get up to $3.50 a square foot,” she said.
Parks invites customers to contact the District to schedule a water analysis and learn more about their rebate programs. Their website also offers an array of information to help reduce water usage. The District can be reached at (858) 756-2424 and customers may receive additional information at sfidwater.org