California Water Conservation Assembly Bill 1928

Since March 2014 I have been an active participant of the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Landscape Committee.  Before my time, the idea of irrigation equipment standards was brought up, but never materialized at the time.  In early 2015, the then and current Water Conservation Manager for the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD), Jerry De La Piedra, brought the idea back to the SCVWD board of directors.  It was discussed and crafted with the help of the landscape committee, authored by Assembly Member Nora Campos as assembly bill 1928 and sponsored by the SCVWD.  The bill passed the floor in late August and California Governor Jerry Brown approved and signed the bill into law on September 13, 2016.

The bill simply states that irrigation equipment must adopt performance standards and labeling requirements by January 2019.  Performance standards will be considered based on the Irrigation Associations Smart Water Application Technology Program protocol.  No new irrigation equipment for landscape irrigation shall be sold or offered for sale unless it meets the performance standards and labeling requirements.

It's a powerful bill to come from the committee when at times it feels like all we do is discuss our shared quixotic takes on water conservation.  This small committee was able to produce real change that will help guide California water conservation.

Click on the hyperlink to see the letter from the board of directors.

2016 Water Supply Update: The New Norm

Did you hear the drought is over?  Unfortunately, that's what millions of Californian's heard when the State Water Resources Control Board announced that they were lifting the state wide band of mandatory 25% water reductions.  What they didn't hear was that they were turning over any water restrictions to the individual water districts and retailers.

The individual water districts and retailers were instructed to perform a stress test applying the previous three years of drought conditions and usage to the upcoming three years.  Where water supply is after 3 years of simulated drought conditions determines what restrictions are necessary.

Several water districts and retailers have lifted the ban due to water supply conditions meeting the stress test.  Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD), Cinnabar Hill's purveyor, has lowered the reduction from 30% down to 20%.  

We are allowed to use more water this year, but we aren't going to settle to just meet the 20%.  The drought and the last two years of conservation demand has changed our habits and mindset which is exactly what a conservation program is suppose to do.  We are as green as can be right now for June and it isn't because we are using more water.  We have actually saved 31.4% to date.   We've converted nozzles, added acid injection, applied tons upon tons of calcium, converted to single head control, changed the frequency in which we water and removed over 150,000 square feet of turf.  All of these permanent changes are part of our new norm and hearing golfers comments recently as they come off the course, our new norm is pretty darn good.

See how great we look on this recent drone flyover. 

My Tuesday Mistress

Since February 2014, I have had a standing date every other Tuesday evening.  Her name is the Santa Clara Valley Water District.  My GM Ron Zraick and I have been attending the water district board meetings since the drought really took hold.  We also attend the district's water conservation and recycled water ad hoc committee meetings monthly and I attend their landscape committee meetings every first Tuesday of the month.

The second meeting of the month is a real treat as all the big players from the district's water supply and conservation team are there.  The district called for a 30% cut from 2013 usage and they/ we the county, achieved 27%!  (Cinnabar Hills achieved a 31.5% savings)  I recall a board meeting where the board discussed the financial shortfall being greater than what was projected and staff response was that they really only expected 20-25% savings because historically they hadn't gotten close to the target.  Between district messaging and community involvement, the call to action succeeded.  

Yes, it took a drought to start attending board meetings but we are there now and it's something I typically look forward too.   When I consider the  magnitude of responsibility the district has I get a headache, but the Board and District Staff stand tall and meet those challenges daily.

Everyone Doing Their Part

The other day as I was walking through the kitchen at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club, I had noticed a new bucket next to the dish washing area and a huge smile came across my face after I read the message.  The bucket had a message on it for the staff to empty drinking water into it that hadn't been drunk.  This is the optimism I mentioned in a previous post about what I thought a drought period can provide.  Everyone doing their part and hopefully becoming a way of life and not just something we do for today.  That water (almost 2g/ day) is now used on the flowers near the front door.

Please see our "Commitment To Community" page on the website to see what we are doing at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club during the drought and for more water saving tips, visit the "Save 20 Gallons" page brought to us by the Santa Clara Valley Water District.