Water conservation is always in season

By Gail Paparian
For the Record Gazette

Somebody took umbrage about something I wrote in a recent column. I understand it was written off to the fact that she's just “a cranky, old lady.” Hum. I am not cranky. I do not feel old and I thank the man for considering me to be a lady rather than a witch with a B.

If you really wanted to see my blood pressure rise and my hair stand on end, you should have been with me the other morning. I was taking the prodigal pooch for her daily walk. As I rounded a corner, water was gushing down the street. Here it was again: a thoughtless homeowner was watering the street.

I don't know how many thousands or hundreds of thousands of gallons of water is needlessly wasted because people won't change their watering patterns. In the not to distant future, I will not be surprised that water conservation is mandated.

Back a few years ago, a Banning council member thought the city should take a kinder, gentler approach and initiated codes “compliance.” It didn't take long to figure out that the way most people comply is to have the codes enforced. It is a difference with a distinction and so it is with water conservation.

There was a gathering of about 800 people at the fifth annual Riverside County Water Symposium held at the Morongo Casino. I would have loved to have attended but couldn't afford the $150 entrance fee. I would have to be satisfied with reading newspaper accounts and picking the brains of people who attended.

I didn't have to attend the symposium to realize that we continue to waste too much of a precious resource-- water. If the economy had not slowed down and the area kept putting thousands of houses on the building drawing board, radical actions would need to be taken to assure and insure a stable water supply for existing homes as well as new development.

Steve Robbins, general manager of the Coachella Valley Water District is fond of reminding people that we live in a desert. While residents in the Pass area are at about 2,500-foot elevation; this is still a desert. Statistics indicate that outdoor watering accounts for 60 to 80 percent of a home's water use.

I found myself falling victim to BBS (Boiling Blood Syndrome) when I walked past one house where a man was washing his car. I used to like washing my car until I realized that taking it to a car wash is a better deal, as the car wash recycles their water.

Anyway, if the guy was simply washing his car I might have continued walking without making a comment. Instead, he wasn't really washing his car he was letting the hose run as he talked with his neighbor! The water was gushing down the street accomplishing nothing.

I gritted my teeth and walked his way. “Good morning,” I said behind a false smile. “I thought you might want to know that May is water conservation month, so if you don't mind, could you at least use it for something rather than just washing the street?” I didn't wait for his response as I told Sandy to make tracks.

Wanting to get his take on the symposium and find out what was new with water in the city of Banning, I contacted Jim Earhart, director of Banning Public Utilities. Earhart is extremely busy handling the electric department and the water and wastewater departments.

Earhart began our conversation by chiding me about a figure I had used in a recent column. I had indicated that the Sun Lakes Home Owners Association spent about $800,000 a year irrigating the golf courses with drinking water. He asked me where I had gotten this figure. I told him I received the information from the previous water director. End of conversation.

Earhart informed me that Sun Lakes uses about 169 million gallons of water annually. The cost is approximately $341,000 and yes... it is drinking water as the City of Banning is still not equipped to provide recycled water.

The City is seeking SRF (State Revolving Funds) to help finance the upgrading of the wastewater treatment plant which would allow tertiary treatment. “My goal is to get it in as soon as possible and not just to Sun Lakes, but throughout the city.” Earhart would like to see recycled water used at the high school, the parks, the medians, Cal Trans areas. “We would like to use all we can produce,” Earhart said.

Recycled water isn't cheap, as it is equal to or more expensive than potable water. However, the reality is, forward thinkers have to consider every kind of water available including state project water, groundwater and recycled water.

Earhart is busy with several water related projects including the repair of the flume. He is waiting for the final agreements to be worked out between the City, SCE, Banning Heights Mutual Water Company and the Pass Water Agency.

Every effort is being made to be able to bring state project water to Banning. While the people of Banning have been paying to bring state water in since 1961, it has arrived in Beaumont/Cherry Valley; not quite to Banning. Who will ultimately pay for it depends on whom you speak with. I would like to think the cost will be borne by the Pass Water Agency rather than the taxpayers who have been paying for years.

Conservation Tips

Before we are mandated as to how much and when we use our water, good conservation habits are always in season. Being logical allows you to be water smart. It is logical to only run the clothes washer and dishwasher with full loads. It makes sense to NOT let the water run when you are brushing your teeth or shaving. It shows good planning to keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap until water gets cold.

Plant during spring and fall when watering requirements are lower. Water in early morning hours when temperatures are cooler and winds are lighter. Here's a goody: Use a broom instead of a hose to clean the driveway or sidewalk. It will save about 80 gallons of water every time. There are some excellent sites to answer just about any water/water conservation question. Here is an example: www.wateruseitwisely.com

Banning's Earhart told me they are in the middle of the budget process. Like they recently had to do with electric rates, water rates may have to be looked at again. While there is currently no commercial water rate in Banning, tiered rates are imposed, as in, the more you use the more you pay. Rates, structures including commercial rates will be evaluated, Earhart said.

I am hoping citizens will be the beneficiaries of rebates for wise water use as rebates are available through the electric department and the public benefits programs. I look forward to the time when Banning gets to offer the same types of programs that Las Vegas did, when you received a rebate every time you got rid of a foot of grass.

I would replace my backyard lawn with waterless grass and cap off my sprinklers in a heartbeat if I could afford it and Sandy found it to her satisfaction. While Councilmember John Machisic is fond of saying something might happen... just not in his lifetime, I would like to think that city leaders and homeowner's association electeds get the picture and get on the bandwagon of water conservation. It can only help.

Gail and her husband Bill Paparian created a service called Writing Solutions in 1996. Gail has also written for a number of local and national magazines and newspapers over the years.

Currently, she provides public relations consulting services for the Banning Unified School District. She can be reached at info@WritingSolutions.com.

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