Ted Johnston could hardly believe the numbers from the City of Ripon’s water conservation efforts from last month.
As the Director of Public Works, he reported that folks reduced their water usage by a whopping 50.7 percent, using the base figures from 2012 as a measuring reference.
“I was surprised to see those numbers for March,” he said at Tuesday’s Ripon City Council meeting.
Johnston added that having most of the town on metering system may have helped the cause. But mostly he credits the awareness of people in turning off their sprinkler systems given that March was a wet month.
Landscape irrigation provides the most water usage, Johnston noted.
The 50 percent reduction figure from last month also bumped up Ripon’s monthly average per reduction since June up to 29 percent.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s water conservation mandate during for the past nine months of 36 percent could soon be reduced to 33 percent, according to Johnston.
The State Water Board, meanwhile, will hold a public workshop in Sacramento on April 20 in an effort to receive input on the conservation needs through the summer months.
The workshop, as reported on www.drought.ca.gov, will consider adjustments to the current emergency regulations given available water supply, storage and snowpack conditions.
At the same time, Californians are being urged to continue applying their water conservation skills and habits throughout the spring.
In Ripon, the mandatory water conservation measures are available at www.cityofripon,org.