Most of Ripon’s homes now have water meters.
Engineering Supervisor James Pease reported at last week’s Ripon City Council meeting the count is at 98 percent or 2,010 homes around town  are now hooked up to the metering system.
GM Construction & Development, Inc. of Citrus Heights handled the $2.1 million – $63,719 of that was part of the change order approved by elected leaders at the Aug. 9 session – Water Meter Installation Project.
Pease noted that 2,664 meters were also retrofitted.
Ripon, meanwhile, continued to post steady numbers with the water conservation efforts, according to Director of Public Works Ted Johnston.
He reported a reduction of 29 percent for July, comparing those figures to that of the established 2013 baseline mark.
“We’re still pretty close to our (water conservation) figures from last month,” said Johnston, who reported 30 percent reduced water usage.
Ripon is ahead of the state-wide water conservation efforts.
According to the State Water Resources Control Board, the recent figures were 21.5 percent savings, which was down 27.5 percent from a year ago.
“Californians have continued to conserve without top down mandates, but the question is whether we can save enough and keep it up for the long haul,” said Felicia Marcus, who is state board chair. “While last winter’s rains allowed us to ease state mandated conservation, that didn’t mean the drought was over or that local conservation efforts should stop – and we’re looking carefully at the data to see what’s happen where and why.”
Locally, Ripon continues to keep tabs on water wasters.
Johnston said that 158 notices were placed on doors of those found to be in violation of the mandatory water conservation measures, with 14 being cited during the past month.
Council requested a report from staff on the matter for an upcoming meeting.