In response to persistent, exceptional drought conditions throughout the Santa Clarita Valley and the state, SCV Water activated Stage One of its Water Shortage Contingency Plan and Water Conservation and Water Supply Shortage Ordinance this week.

Stage 1 establishes a framework to prohibit common, but easy to correct, water waste practices. These activities will convert wasted water to beneficial use for future years should drought conditions persist and will assist the Valley with the Governor’s 15% of 2020 voluntary conservation
call.

“Our customer’s efforts are trending in the right direction, but we still need to work together to ramp up additional conservation across the Santa Clarita Valley, so we can achieve our voluntary target,” said SCV Water’s General Manager Matt Stone. “We’ve saved during past droughts, and we’re confident our customers will take this call to practice voluntary conservation to heart.”

California has entered its third year of drought and reservoirs remain at critically low levels. These conditions prompted Governor Newsom to proclaim a statewide drought State of Emergency and call on all Californians to voluntarily reduce their water usage by 15%.

Additionally, as the statewide conservation response in July and August fell short of the goal, the governor’s emergency proclamation directs agencies to execute their urban Water Shortage Contingency Plans to supplement voluntary conservation.

Stage 1 of the Agency’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan and Water Conservation Supply Shortage Ordinance not only support water conservation through strategies prioritizing education and engagement, but also includes prohibition of certain wasteful water practices.

In light of both statewide and local hydrologic conditions, consecutive dry water years, record low precipitation, and in response to the governor’s emergency proclamations, SCV Water has proactively implemented strategies to mitigate potential supply shortages, educate the public on the status and impacts of the current drought, and to encourage water conservation.

“SCV Water is drought-ready,” said SCV Water’s Sustainability Manager Matt Dickens. “Curbing water waste, especially outdoors, is simple and low cost, and SCV Water offers our customers many programs to increase water efficiency. We are here to help.”

Stage 1 Explained

The Stage 1 action encourages customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by a minimum of 10% and to participate in the many available programs to increase water-use efficiency, including:
-Rebates for turf replacement, smart irrigation controllers, high-efficiency irrigation upgrades and more
– Free Home Drought Ready Check-Ups
– Irrigation tune-ups
– Leak detection device incentives
– Online Water SMART Workshop, gardening classes and other resources

In addition, watering restrictions take effect that prohibit the following actions:
– Allowing runoff onto non-irrigated areas when irrigating with potable water
– Using hoses with no shutoff nozzles to wash cars
– Using potable water to wash sidewalks, driveways and hardscapes
– Using potable water in decorative water features that do not recirculate the water
– Irrigating outdoors during and within 48 hours following precipitation of a quarter inch or more
– The irrigation with potable water of ornamental turf on public street medians

“We know that many of our customers already embrace these water-wise practices, and just hope to remind them that these simple actions can achieve significant savings,” said Dickens. Community Engagement To further support these efforts, SCV Water will increase public outreach and education for our customers and community.

The Agency has also partnered with the City of Santa Clarita and L.A. County Waterworks District #36 to form a Sustainable Water Action Team (SWAT), to coordinate drought efforts and outreach. SCV Water will continue to monitor the situation to determine the best next course of action. For more information and resources, visit the drought resource website.