Mandatory Water Rationing

It’s happened: Residents of San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Campbell, and others are going under mandatory water rationing. Paul Rogers stated in the Mercury News on Tuesday that,

“All single-family residences — defined as any home that has its own water meter — will be given monthly water allocations. Apartments and most businesses, however, will not. The allocations will require homeowners to cut water use 30 percent from 2013 levels. The 30 percent isn’t based on a home’s individual use, however. Instead, it’s calculated on the month-by-month average of all residential users in San Jose Water’s service area, minus 30 percent.

“San Jose Water will mail a notice to all of its customers explaining the rules on May 19, and plans to hold a public hearing to explain them at 7 p.m. on May 28 at the Rotary Summit Center, 88 South 4th Street in San Jose.”

While this may sound scary, there are things we can do.  We don’t need to let our landscape die, matter of fact  it is important that it continues to thrive! Although the Valley may start to look significantly browner in the months to come, it is important to continue to take care of our plants and trees. We just need to make conscious decisions about when and how we water them. In the weeks to come, I will be discussing ways to do this and posting lots of helpful hints on other ways to conserve water in your landscape. So stay tuned, and we will figure out the drought together!

Here is a link to the original article: http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28102311/california-drought-new-details-emerge-about-san-joses