Governor Asks Californians To Voluntarily Cut Water Use

Speaker 1: 00:00 Today we are dealing with dry heat and flex alerts. While much of the state faces a mega drought. Now, governor Gavin Newsome is calling on all Californians to voluntarily cut back their water use by 15%. Speaker 2: 00:13 The sober reality is such a that here we are again, uh, and we will need to proceed, uh, with the lessons learned from the last drought, uh, but with the benefits, uh, of those lessons now, and the resources, uh, that we have not, uh, been afforded in the past. Speaker 1: 00:30 Joining me to talk about what this means for San Diego wins is Sandy curl general manager of the San Diego county water authority. Sandy, welcome. Speaker 3: 00:40 Thank you. Glad to be here. Speaker 1: 00:42 So you say our region is quote drought safe because of taxpayer investments in water supply, and long-term planning. What can conserving water here do to help the rest of the state? Speaker 3: 00:54 Well, you know, here in San Diego county, we use about 50% less water than we did in 1990. So our region has very much taken on the conflict conservation ethic. Um, I think, um, additional savings and water will hopefully, uh, create some, um, additional resources in the state, um, so that hopefully we get to a wetter winter and spring, uh, next year. Speaker 1: 01:22 Mm. And so what are some of the ways we can Speaker 3: 01:23 Do that? So I'm with, uh, San Diego county, we've done a lot of conservation, I think now it's really focusing on some of those, um, smaller increments, pain, um, attention to the little things, making sure you're turning the water off when you're brushing your teeth or, uh, shaving. Um, you're doing full loads of laundry, uh, full loads of dishes, uh, making sure that there's no leaks in your irrigation. And if there is, could get those resolved very quickly, Speaker 1: 01:54 You know, I mean in specifically, governor Newsome is asking everyone to cut their consumption of water by 15%. Um, what does a 15% reduction look like for the average user? Speaker 3: 02:08 Um, so for the average user, it really means, um, being able to, um, again, focus on those, um, small increments, um, in their residential use, um, to make sure that they're, um, really minimizing the amount of water that they're using. But again, I want to emphasize that this region has really taken on conservation, um, wholeheartedly and much of the conservation is very hardened at this point. Speaker 1: 02:38 You know, if all residential users in San Diego county do cut back 15%, what would be the impact of that on conservation here and in the state? Speaker 3: 02:49 So if the users here in San Diego cut back 15%, um, it would mean that we would have additional water, um, available. We have supplies to serve the region, even in the second, very dry year because of the investments we've made, um, both through the Carlsbad desalination plant, uh, the extraordinary conservation already the, um, uh, agreements with Imperial irrigation district to get conserved water from the Colorado river. Um, so we've really, um, put ourselves in a position that we have sufficient supplies. So any savings that we do, um, would provide additional water into storage, um, or an opportunity to assist the state and other areas where there are challenges, Speaker 1: 03:41 Our residential water users, the biggest consumers in the county. And if not, who is Speaker 3: 03:47 They are where, uh, residential uses about 66% of the water use, uh, in the county. And the next most significant, um, at about, um, 16% is the, uh, industrial commercial users. Hmm. Speaker 1: 04:05 And how will the water authority work with other state water agencies to come up with strategies to address the water shortage? And what could that look like? Speaker 3: 04:14 Um, that's a really great question. So I've been in conversations with, uh, the general manager at metropolitan water district who is brand new. Uh, his name is Adele hush [inaudible], and we've had conversations. Also had a conversation this morning with the governor's office, um, offering up some solutions to assist, uh, statewide with some of the resources that we have. So I think we're going to be working hand in hand collaboratively because it really is about, um, uh, one state, um, and making sure that the state, every area of the state is taken care of that we have tools and met house tools that can assist. We want to do that. Speaker 1: 04:59 I've been speaking with Sandy curl general manager of the San Diego county water authority. Sandy, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.