Upper District Urges Monrovia Businesses and Residents to Conserve Water

The following news release is courtesy of the Upper District.

Water conservation must become a way of life if you live in the San Gabriel Valley, Upper District President Tony Fellow said Wednesday.

Fellow’s comments follow Governor Edmund G. Brown’s drought emergency declaration, as the state experiences one of the driest winters on record.

The drought emergency proclamation also directs local urban water suppliers and cities to implement water shortage contingency plans in order to avoid or forestall outright restrictions.

“As the weather outlook continues to remain dry, we will work closely with all of the water providers to manage our local water sources to ensure continued supply reliability for the San Gabriel Valley,” Fellow said. “Southern California ratepayers have invested billions in conservation, recycling, storm water capture and storage to deal with droughts without severe water rationing.”

“Nonetheless, it is incumbent on all of us to make water conservation a way of life and meet the Governor’s call for a 20 percent voluntary reduction in water use,” Fellow said. “What we conserve today will be stored for later use if this drought continues.”

Upper District encourages San Gabriel Valley residents to visit www.socalwatersmart.com to receive rebates for high efficiency: toilets; clothes washers; sprinklers and turf removal. Residents and businesses can also reference this site for conservation tips for their homes and gardens.

Gov. Brown’s drought declaration follows two years of dry weather conditions that have left many reservoirs depleted. Recent snow surveys in the Sierra Nevada Mountains recorded by the California Department of Water Resources were 20 percent of normal average for this time of year, consistent with the state’s continued extreme dry weather conditions. Local precipitation is about 15 percent of average since July, following annual totals for the last two years of 59 percent and 32 percent.

The drought declaration eases some state and federal regulations governing water management and pushes the state’s water crisis into the forefront of the public eye. Brown urged Californians to look for water conservation tips on the public awareness campaign website www.saveourh2o.org.

The declaration calls upon local water suppliers and municipalities to implement their local water shortage contingency plans, if needed. State agencies will immediately implement water use reduction plans for all state facilities and allows the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board the ability to expedite the processing of water transfers where water flow is needed most. Additionally, the declaration allows the State Water Resources Control Board to ease environmental requirements for dam releases which will assist in managing the demand for water.

Upper District’s mission is to provide a reliable, sustainable, diversified and affordable portfolio of high quality water supplies to the San Gabriel Valley; including water conservation, recycled water, storm water capture, storage, water transfers and imported water. Upper District services nearly one million people in its 144 square mile service territory. Governed by a five member elected board of directors, Upper District is a member agency of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Annually, more than 78 billion gallons of water is used in Upper District’s service area.

For more information about Upper District, please visit our website www.upperdistrict.org or call 626-443-2297.