Benicians will need to make even deeper cuts to their water use, Public Works Director Graham Wadsworth said Wednesday. Instead of just 20 percent compared to how much they consumed in 2013, residents and business owners must use 28 percent less waater than they did two years ago, he said.
That’s the order from the State Water Resources Control Board, which put Benicia in a tier that requires the 28-percent cutback.
Some urban water suppliers need to cut their consumption by 8 percent, and others face much deeper cuts, to 36 percent less than they used in 2013, Wadsworth said.
In Solano County, Vallejo will need to cut back only 16 percent, but Rio Vista falls into the 36-percent reduction tier, he said.
The board based their classification of communities on daily per-person consumption, Wadsworth said.
Benicia reported average water use of 144 gallons per person per day during the summer of 2014, he said.
That put the city into the tier requiring a 28-percent cutback.
“Benicia has a pretty high percentage of single-family homes with yards when compared to San Francisco with many multi-family homes with small yards,” Wadsworth said.
“Benicia also has a warmer and windier climate that dries out landscaping, so we have a higher percentage of outdoor water use and therefore a higher target to reach.”
He explained that per-capita water use only includes treated drinking water, and does not include industrial use of untreated water by Valero Refinery.
Wadsworth and other city employees have accumulated numbers that show Benicians have reduced their average consumption per person per day to 105 gallons.
They sent those figures to the board, but the panel won’t review the data until next month, he said.
“If the revised numbers are approved, then the reduction target would be 20 percent instead of 28 percent,” he said.
Wadsworth wanted to make clear that the new 28 percent mandatory reduction is not added to the 20 percent, and more Benicians already are saving.
It’s a newly required goal, he said.
Failure to meet the new cutback requirement can be costly, he said.
“If the average reduction by all residential water customers is less than the mandatory reduction, then the water rate payers could be subject to paying $10,000 per day through increased water bills,” he warned.
“Last year, Benicia issued a call for water conservation, added a drought surcharge to water bills, offered water savings rebates, and imposed mandatory restrictions on outdoor water use.”
Those measures succeeded in reducing 2014 water use by 21 percent compared to 2013, he said.
“Reaching the 28 percent target will be a stretch,” Dave Wenslawski, water conservation representative, said. “But our efforts last year have put us in a good position, and I think Benicia can do it.”
Wenslawski said the community’s water use in January through March of this year was down by 24.9 percent, compared to the same three months in 2013.
Benicia’s outdoor watering restrictions allow watering just three days a week in spring and summer, and spray irrigation is allowed only between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Whether additional city requirements and restrictions will be issued remains to be seen, Wadsworth said.
“We’ll have to wait and see what the Water Board’s final regulations say,” he said.
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To reach this new target citizens need better data. Using the present water bills you have no idea of how much water you are saving or using on a daily basis. And the period time covered is the previous 2 months.
In my case my last water bill showed that I was using 144 gallons per day but it didn’t show if there was a drastic decrease in my water usage because I repaired the sprinkler valve that the tree roots had broken and the sprinkler pipe that the hedge had broken trying to get water. Yes, the graft showed that I was using less water but what am I using now. I have no real idea.
The city may need to report over all numbers to the water agencies but the consumer needs to know how they are doing also. This is like the difference between macro and micro numbers! If you want me to be your partner you have to bring me along.
144 gallons per day? Holy smokes! You must have a large household.
I have a huge yard which is planted mostly in native plants on a drip system. But with a broken valve (inside the sprinkler box) and a broken pipe, when the water came on it was a large amount that wasn’t readily visible. In fact I didn’t find the second problem until we checked the whole system after repairing the first problem.
When the sprinkler system was turned off we were using 46 gallons per day for the whole household. I wanted to see how much of a difference the repairs made and I can’t tell until the next bill comes in.
No need to sound apologetic 144 gpd is below the national average for a two person household.
Actual range is 80 to 100 per person per day.
144 gallons a day is an excessive amount of water, per day, no matter how you slice it. Especially in times of drought. I’m glad you were able to find the culprit, Mary. Thanks for doing your part.
In my household of four, we average less than 100 gallons per day. And, we are not doing anything special to keep it at this level.
In my household of three, they say we use 160 gpd. I got rid of my lawn years ago, plants are drip, but have been shut off all winter Showers are two minutes or less and I have toilet bowl stew brewing daily.
I performed a leak test by seeing if my meter changed after an hour of no use, it was the same after an hour. I do have a pool, but added no water thru most of the winter.
I don’t use any more water than I do in my 5th wheel where 100 gallons last me about five six day’s.
Something fishy going on there, dude! Perhaps your neighbor is sneaking over at night and is tapping in.
I just wonder how they take a reading, is it remote? like a smart meter. The meter look’s old school to me
Meter readers. You could probably request that they replace your meter.
I’ve lived here 21 years and never seen anyone reading water meter’s..
They are a stealth bunch.
For your reading pleasure:
http://www.codepublishing.com/ca/benicia/?Benicia13/Benicia1316.html&?f
13.20.060 Testing.
A. The city will test a meter upon request of the customer and the deposit of an amount equal to the bimonthly minimum charge for each meter to be tested. A meter will be tested within five working days of a request for testing.
B. If the tested meter is found to indicate underregistration, the city will keep the testing deposit. If the tested meter is found to overregister by more than 2.0 percent, the city shall provide an accurate meter, the testing deposit shall be returned, and the city shall make an adjustment for overcharge for the determined percentage error for a period of one year or the total period of service, whichever is shorter. (Prior code § 14-176).
RK.J
In California according to USGS website average use is 181 gpd per person, so you are doing you part,
Bear in mind that is a.n average so there is a wide range in different households.
Thank’s DDL , Lately I decided to shower every other day, I know pee uh., I have taken this cutback as a big challenge and signed up with the waterinsight program we now have here
RKJ stated: Lately I decided to shower every other day,
So you’re going European?
also remember:
If it’s yellow: let it mellow,
If it’s brown, flush it down.
😉
Wow. 100 gpd for 4 people is amazing. Typically the health and safety minimum is 50 gpd per person. 25 gpd is really low when you consider a 3 minute shower with a flow restrictor is 5 gallons and toilet flushing with an ultra low flow toilet is 8 gallons; that doesn’t leave much for the garden much less dish washing and laundry.
Of course Benicia has an unaccounted-for-water problem with meters under reading somewhere by a lot. Perhaps one of them is yours.
Yes the city needs to 1) tell people how to read their meter, 2) what their target and usage is in gallons per day not units (748 gallons) per billing cycle (2 months plus or minus a few days) and 3) where the best places to cut are (outdoor over watering , let your lawn just go brown and you will probably Voit the target).
I converted my sprinklers for bushes and trees to drip last summer and adjusted my lawn watering time. The first full billing cycle showed a 47% reduction in use over the previous years use.
If we need to conserve 28% in the short term, what is the government’s plan to increase supply by at least 28% to provide for our needs during the next drought?
Should government enable the citizen’s basic needs and priorities such as police, fire and enabling infrastructure or should governments focus on modifying our behaviors?
Instead of tearing down existing dams, why aren’t we building new ones? Rather than worrying about smelt, why aren’t we worrying about farming jobs that require water? Biotech jobs that require water? And satisfied citizens that can take a shower and have a big suburban yard with a green lawn?
In a world of constrained resources, why are we not prioritizing human needs and wants?
Why are we listening to the environmental extremists who care more about every other species than the human race?
Humans will have an impact on our environment Every species does. If we kill a few fish to allow for jobs and comfort…bye bye fishies!.
Actually the system is based on a water right priority that goes back to English Common Law, adopted by the legislature when California became a republic. Senior water right holders like many farmers on the Sacramento River, Feather River, San Joaquin River and in the Delta have all the water they want. It is the junior water right holders who are cut first. So some have 100% and others have zero.
The laws protecting fish: that would be ESA and NEPA, both signed into law by that enviro Nixon.
You have focused on smelt but the real danger right now is to salmon. This isn’t fish vs farmers it is farmers vs sport and commercial fishing vs urban uses vs regulators vs interest groups vs in delta farmers vs export farmers vs Northern California vs Southern California vs sac valley vs San Joaquin valley vs enviros. Most everybody is one more than one side and the reason nothing gets done is that any one side can block anything and everything.