Homeowners seeking new ways of curbing water usage

The California drought has caused many homeowners to begin looking at new ways of conserving water. In Southern California, the most noticeable change can be seen in landscaping. Californians are taking Governor Jerry Brown’s advice and removing their lawns. The Metropolitan Water District, wholesale provider to 26 agencies across Southern California, is debating on adding an additional $350 million to its water conservation budget. The addition comes after an increase in requests for turf-removal projects, which are eligible for rebates from the water district.

If MWD decides to increase its budget, the two-year conservation budget for the district would be raised to $450 million.

After Governor Brown’s call for water conservation, MWD was receiving between 2,500 and 3,000 residential turf-removal requests per week, a $10 million increase.

“In the recent two weeks, additional requests for turf removal more than tripled to above $32.8 million for the week ending on May 3 and more than quadrupled to $48.2 (million) for the week ending on May 10,” according to a MWD report.

To comply with Governor Brown’s water restrictions, MWD ordered a 15 percent cut to its member agencies. If a city or agency uses more than their MWD allocation, they would be charged a penalty, ranging from $1,480 to $2,960 per acre-foot of water.