The Coachella Valley Water District will consider implementing several water conservation measures on Tuesday, including a ban on outdoor water use for spray irrigation during daytime hours, requiring restaurants to only serve water upon request, and increasing the turf rebate amount.
The meeting comes as the state is in a deepening drought after one of the driest starts to spring in decades. Almost all of California and much of the Western U.S. is in severe to extreme drought, according to U.S. drought monitor.
These actions are all part of CVWD’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan, which was adopted by the Board of Directors in June 2021 as a list of actions to increase domestic water conservation.
Coachella Valley Water District will consider implementing the following actions from its Water Shortage Contingency Plan on Tuesday:
- Prohibition on outdoor water use during daylight hours for spray irrigation, except for leak checks or with an agency-approved conservation alternative plan.
- Restaurants can serve water only on request.
- Agency will actively discourage overseeing.
- Agency will expand public information campaign.
- Agency will increase water waste patrols.
- Agency will encourage counties, cities, HOAs and other enforcement agencies to suspend code enforcement and fines for brown turfgrass areas.
- Agency will increase turf rebates from $2 per square foot to $3 per square foot.
CVWD staff is also evaluating other possible improvements to the turf rebate that could potentially increase customer participation, such as a “direct to contractor” payment model that provides rebate payments directly to the landscape contractors to subsidize the turf conversion costs. The landscapers would need to agree to set costs of model landscape plans provided by CVWD.
These actions are listed as Shortage Level 2 and Shortage Level 3 actions, which are intended for “slightly limited” to “moderately limited” water supplies. Level 1 is for “normal water supplies,” and the highest shortage level, Level 6, refers to a “severe shortage or catastrophic incident.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on March 28 that requests the State Water Resources Control Board to require urban water suppliers to enact at least Level 2 shortage actions by May 25. Implementing the list of actions on Tuesday would satisfy this requirement, according to the CVWD staff report.
The executive order also requests that the State Water Resources Control Board consider banning irrigation of “non-functional turf” in commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors. “Non-functional turf’ is ornamental turf that isn’t used for recreation purposes such as sports fields and parks. CVWD staff are preparing outreach efforts to local businesses and organizations that could be impacted by this potential ban on “non-functional turf.”
In July 2021, Newsom issued an Executive Order calling on all Californians to voluntarily cut water consumption by 15% from 2020 levels. Between July 2021 and February 2022, CVWD reduced domestic water production by just 2.42% compared to the same months in 2020, according to a CVWD staff report. The statewide reduction during the same time period was 6.4%.
Three Coachella Valley water agencies were among the state’s top five residential water users in January, with Myoma Dunes Water District – which serves Bermuda Dunes and part of La Quinta – ranking first. Coachella Valley Water District, which serves Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Thousand Palms, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Thermal and the Salton Sea communities, came in third, and Desert Water Agency, which serves Palm Springs and Cathedral City, ranked fifth.
How to participate
The CVWD Board of Directors meeting begins at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, and members of the public can attend the meeting in person or via Zoom. Board meetings are held at 75515 Hovley Lane East in Palm Desert.
To join via Zoom, use this link with passcode 802942. The Zoom meeting can also be joined by phone by calling 1 (669) 900-9128 and using the webinar ID 85681119663. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the CVWD’s website.
Erin Rode covers the environment for the Desert Sun. Reach her at erin.rode@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @RodeErin.