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The West Basin Municipal Water District received a $385,000 WaterSMART Grant from the Bureau of Reclamation and a $300,000 grant from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Urban and Multibenefit Drought Relief Grant Program.
“We thank the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Water Resources for recognizing and supporting West Basin’s water use efficiency actions to see us through this historic drought,” said West Basin General Manager Gregory Reed. “These grant funds allow the District to follow through on its commitments to water supply reliability, sound financial management, customer service, and environmental stewardship.”
Conserved water will reduce the need for imported water taken from the strained Colorado River, remain in storage reservoirs for longer periods of time and help mitigate drought. Water conservation will also reduce the stress on the DWR State Water Project, which has seen its deliveries reduced to zero in some portions of Southern California.
Through its grass removal programs, West Basin expects to convert approximately 250 sites to water efficient landscaping, equating to approximately 400,000 square feet of grass replacement. The expected result is an annual water savings of 54 acre-feet, or roughly 17.6 million gallons in a year.
West Basin is calling on its service area to reduce its water use by 30 percent, especially from outdoor water use which can account for 50 percent of total use. West Basin’s Grass Replacement program provides rebates starting at $3 for every square foot of grass replaced with drought-tolerant landscaping. For more information, visit westbasin.org/conservation.
