Crackdown on lawn watering is coming to Santa Clara County

Concerned about diminishing water supplies this summer and a failure of the public to hit conservation targets, Santa Clara County's largest water agency is moving forward with plans to ask the county's 2 million residents to water landscaping no more than two days a week, down from the current three days.

Last June, the Santa Clara Valley Water District declared a drought emergency and asked the public to cut water use 15% compared with 2019 levels. But in February, amid recorddry conditions, South Bay residents ignored that request, cranking up sprinklers and increasing water use countywide by 23%.

In some of the wealthiest areas of Santa Clara County, water use was up even more, such as in Palo Alto, where it increased 51% in February compared with February 2019, or in the Purissima Hills Water District in Los Altos Hills, where it shot up 163% over the same time.

Now as California enters a third year of drought with hot summer months ahead, water managers are trying to do more to sound the alarm.

“Our reservoirs are at record low levels,” said Aaron Baker, a chief operating officer of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, on Monday. “The Sierra snowpack is diminishing. Our imported water supplies are low. We're looking to reduce outside irrigation. We don't have enough water for green lawns.”

This past Tuesday, the board of the district, a government agency based in San Jose, was expected to vote to upgrade its drought emergency resolution, telling the public to water landscaping and lawns no more than twice a week. Typically, outdoor irrigation accounts for 50% of residential summer water use, so cutting from three days a week to two could reduce overall water use by 15% or more.

But whether to impose twice-a-week rules will be up to each local city and water company. And so will the decision about whether to enforce the new rules. So far, no cities in Santa Clara County have been issuing fines for residents who are watering too often, Baker said.

The district asks people who see water being wasted to call 408-6302000 or email waterwise@ valleywater.org to report it. A district staff member will visit the property owner and send a letter reminding them of the rules. After three notifications, the district will alert their city or water company, which could issue fines.

Another big challenge: Cities and private water companies across Silicon Valley have widely differing rules. Since last summer, residents have been receiving conflicting messages.

San Jose Water Company, a private firm that serves 1 million residents in San Jose, Los Gatos, Campbell and other areas, has been asking residents to limit water use to two days a week for months. But only a few miles away, the cities of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale allow watering three days a week. And there are no days of the week limits in Mountain

View or Palo Alto.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District, a wholesale water provider to 13 cities and private companies, says it will be stepping up efforts to get them all on the same page.

“Having a consistent message of two days a week, which we haven't had until now, if we can hit that hard with our education and outreach, we do think we will be successful,” said Kirsten Struve, assistant officer in the district's water supply division. “But it's difficult to communicate something that is different everywhere.”

While February's water use was troubling, the conservation news isn't all bad: Santa Clara Valley residents cumulatively have cut water use 6% from June 2021 through February 2022 compared with the same time period in 2019.

Despite the light rain across the Bay Area, signs of the drought continue to worsen. On Monday, Cal Fire officials suspended all residential outdoor burning of landscape debris like branches and leaves in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, western Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties due to increasing fire risk.

The announcement came a month earlier than last year, when it occurred on May 13.

“It seems like fire season just finished and it's already here again,” said Chuck Carroll, a battalion chief with Cal Fire in San Jose.

“Things aren't completely dried out yet, but yesterday we had a couple of vegetation fires,” he added. “Normally we don't get anything this early.”