Goal is to lower per-person usage by 20 percent in next
decade
A state-mandated, 20 percent reduction in water usage by 2020
will be aided locally by a recently adopted update to the Urban
Water Management Plan.
The City of Hollister, the Sunnyslope County Water District and
the San Benito County Water District collaborated on the plan,
which encourages water users in and around Hollister to help
conserve water.
Goal is to lower per-person usage by 20 percent in next decade
A state-mandated, 20 percent reduction in water usage by 2020 will be aided locally by a recently adopted update to the Urban Water Management Plan.
The City of Hollister, the Sunnyslope County Water District and the San Benito County Water District collaborated on the plan, which encourages water users in and around Hollister to help conserve water.
“It’s a guideline for what the water supply looks like for the next five or 10 years,” said Jeff Cattaneo, director of the county water district. “The goal is a 10 percent reduction in individual water demand by 2015 and an additional 10 percent by 2020.”
Water suppliers throughout the state have developed target levels of per capita usage, with the Hollister urban area’s current usage estimated at 161 gallons per day.
The goal by 2020, therefore, would be to reduce that number to 129 gallons per person per day. Meeting that goal is a requirement for water districts to qualify for state grants and loans and, officials say, using less water means lower water bills.
“It’s kind of uncertain if you don’t meet the goal what the impact would be,” Cattaneo said. “If a community is really not meeting the goals for the reduction, it’s likely they’d have difficulty qualifying for any state funding.”
The Water Conservation Bill of 2009 was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after it was determined that in order to have an adequate water supply for its growing population, a 20 percent reduction in per-person use must occur across the state.
“We’ve had a really robust program to change out old toilets, though there are still (high water-usage) toilets out there that need to be replaced,” Cattaneo said. “The next biggest area folks can focus on is irrigation for landscaping. That’s going to be the next focus for us where we can get the biggest improvement.”
The county’s Water Resources Association offers free water conservation information, check-ups and kits. For more information, call 637-4378 or visit www.wrasbc.org.
