Manteca’s water use fell 24.7 percent in February in year-to-year comparisons.
And while the large drop in water use was primarily the result of a series of heavy February storms, there are signs that more people — especially with outdoor watering that accounts for roughly half the city’s water use — are starting to comply with more stringent water rules.
One way of complying is reflected in efforts such as that by the private Spreckels Park landscape maintenance district to replace water-guzzling turf wherever they can with more drought resistance landscaping.
Crews last week completed replacing grass in front of the two monument signs fronting Moffat Boulevard with more drought resistant plantings.
Turf or lawns are the biggest consumer of water in Manteca.
It is why the city has a rebate program that pays $1 per square foot when a residential grass lawn is replaced with water-efficient landscaping suited to the Manteca area’s semi-arid climate. The program applies to front yards and parkways with the rebate maxing out at $650.
The commercial rebate offer is capped at $5,000.
Details for the turf replacement rebate program are on the city’s website.
The more stringent water rules are unlikely to go away even as storms continue to plummet Northern California including one arriving late Thursday and ending Sunday that is expected to add another four feet of snow to the Sierra crest.
*The Southwest United States — that includes a large swarth of California — is still in the middle of a 20-year megadrought. Typically, such megadroughts are punctured by several years of normal or above normal precipitation and then lapse back into drier weather conditions..
*There is a looming state mandate requiring all underground water basins — including those Manteca, Lathrop, and Ripon depend on — must replace the amount of water they take out in a given a year.
*The state is still pursuing increased flows for fish on the Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne rivers that would reduce available water in major reservoirs such as New Melones.
*The proposed Delta could create a situation where replacement water to protect the Delta’s ecological system when Sacramento River water is diverted into the tunnel could be taken from watersheds serving the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
*Growth continues to place stress on available water supplies.
Manteca in February used 206.365 million of gallon of water of which 52.18 percent was surface water.
That is 34.7 percent less than the 273.883 million gallons used in February 2022. It is also about 2 percent less than the water used in February 2021 when consumption was 208.232 million gallons.
The city uses a combination of surface water and well water to keep costs as low as possible and to reduce ground water pumping.
The South San Joaquin irrigation District supplies Manteca surface water from the Stanislaus River watershed.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
