Los Angeles County Public Works and Waterworks District 29 have been advertising the many ways residents can be proactive in cutting back on water use.
• Governor Brown’s plan creates a statewide rebate program where customers receive incentives to replace old appliances with more efficient, newer models.
The rebate program, according to spokespeople for Waterworks 29, already exists locally through socalwatersmart.com, where customers can apply to replace old appliances for new ones, like high efficiency clothes washers, weather-based sprinkler controllers and rotary sprinkler nozzles.
• Waterworks 29 also offers free water surveys for customers to learn how to cut water use and save money, as well as participate in water conservation during the drought.
“They’ll go to your house, they’ll see if you’re using water conservation faucets, they’ll check your sprinklers to see if you’ve got the right kind, they’ll look at your timers,” said Ron De Vera, L.A. County Regional Water Service Superintendent.
These surveys can be requested through bewaterwise.com.
• There is also a “cash for grass” program that pays homeowners $2 per square foot of grass converted to drought-resistant landscaping.
“We’ve seen about half a million square feet of turf removed [county-wide]; that’s about half a million dollars in reductions,” L.A. County Public Works spokesperson Bob Spencer said.
• Brown’s mandate also includes requesting water agencies bump up water prices, which he hopes will make people think twice before participating in excessive water use.
• Those who are using an excess of water can be reported to water districts through the use of a smartphone application called “The Works,” which was designed to report potholes, broken traffic signals and other infrastructure issues, but a feature for reporting water waste was added in 2014.
Says Spencer, about 95 reports of water waste have been reported since the feature was added in August 2014.
“It isn’t a question of financial penalties, it’s a question of education and encouraging County residents and County businesses alike that we all have responsibility, because it’s a very severe situation, to behave in an appropriate manner,” Spencer said. “Most of the time, that approach works.”