It’s not too early to start thinking about a possible drought

Seems a bit early in the year to be watering my vegetable garden, that’s exactly what I found myself doing last week. After September’s devastating fires and last week’s red flag warning, it’s made me even more mindful about not wasting water. Besides saving money, water conservation is critical in areas prone to drought. Using less water doesn’t mean sacrifice, there are easy ways to cut back on water use at your house. First, check your faucets to make sure none of them are leaking, leaky faucet dripping once per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons each year. Turning off the faucet when you’re brushing your teeth or while soaping up your hands are easy tweaks. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “If it’s yellow, let it mellow”, and you can practice that habit, but replacing your toilet with a low-flow model could save you 25,000 gallons of water a year. A lot of water is wasted on lawns too. You can either let it die out each summer, replace it with low-watering natives or, if you love your lawn, make sure you’re not over watering. 

Check the Regional Water Providers Consortium for ways to cut back on water use in your home and yard.

Five easy ways to save a lot of water