Years of water conservation have helped South Lake Tahoe

As one can imagine, Donielle Morse has been very busy lately. As the Water Conservationist specialist for the South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD), Morse spends her days informing, teaching and keeping up on the new state water mandates.

Drought or no drought, water conservation is necessary and its the reason South Lake Tahoe is faring better than most communities in the West. Since 2007, local water users have cut back 27% of their annual water usage.

In the past nine years there has actually been only one really good snow year, yet local water users have yet to draw more water out of the aquifers (where the community's water comes from) than has been put in. This doesn't mean we have to waste it though.

People have been doing their part in South Lake Tahoe to continue conservation efforts. The Tahoe Keys homeowner's association is removing the grass in medians since watering that is now a violation of the rules. The City of South Lake Tahoe is under the same restrictions as everyone else unless they are using their own private well (like on the golf course and cemetery).

People can still wash their car as long as they use the shut off valve on hoses when doing so.

Water Rules

The State mandated water rules are frustrating for local water officials since the community had already cut back 27%. Cutting another 35% would be almost impossible so STPUD officials negotiated it to 20%.

They want each household to cut back 20%, but this can't be measured at the house level since not every home is metered.

It is deceiving since 60% of the homes in the area are second homes and not occupied all of the time. The per capita gallons of use in South Lake Tahoe that the state calculated doesn’t work in South Lake Tahoe.

The rules for South Shore water users on the STPUD system include:
* Hotels: Need to give guests the option for clean sheets and they need to display this. Morse has templates that hotels can use if they contact her.
* Restaurants: Water is to be served only upon request. The water district has templates for table cards as well. (Did you know that one glass of water actually takes a gallon of water when you take in the ice and washing.)
* Households: Water on odd or even days (homes who's street number is odd water on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday while even numbers water only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless watering with a drip system or hose with a shut off nozzle.

If there is measurable rainfall, yards cannot be watered within 48 hours. The tough thing on this is how much is "measurable?" A fine of $100 can be given if yards are watered within this time threshold.

Since over half of the homeowners in South Lake Tahoe are second home owners a good tool to have are rain sensors on their system so the sprinkler systems will know when it has rained. They can modify existing controllers for a cost of about $25-50 if the owner has a newer system. If people have the money they can remotely control their water systems through their phone or internet.

Water from sprinklers cannot hit the pavement or allow runoff. The fine is $100 for this waste of water as well.

Best Practices

Morse's job is compliance and giving water users the tools needed in order to comply to water regulations.

She has two water educations (aka, water cops) on staff. They will go through the neighborhoods at different times of the days to see when/if people are watering. Homeowners won't get used to them going by only in the afternoon, or only in the morning, whatever the case may be.

Ways to Save

Cycle soaking yards may be better for some due to type of soil and vegetation. Each zone at a home needs just 20 minutes of water a day.

Hand watering/drip: exempt from requirements of time of day but still cannot allow runoff. Hoses need to have shut off at the nozzle. There used to be exemptions for re-seeding and new growth but that is no longer the case.

The District has a turf buy-back program that has been very successful. There are currently 150 people on the waiting list to get approved before they can tear out their grass. $300,000 has been allocated to spend on buying back turf for the next two years. There is space available on the Small Commercial Buy Back Program, contact Morse to get an appointment.

South Tahoe Public Utility District has a list of ways to save water on their website - http://www.stpud.us/water_conservation.html.

STPUD has a leak detection program if you are on a water meter. Morse will come out to our home and evaluate the leak for you.

Residents can participate in a water wise house call. They get a toilet flapper, shower heads, displacement bag for toilet, faucet aerators, kitchen aerators, all of which can save money and water.

She offers a water use review for commercial businesses including motels/hotels. Morse says it is hard to get commercial participation but she can provide $150 rebate to cost of a commercial toilet. She has rebated up to 50 toilets per property. Goal is to stop by each property and evaluate water use practices and help guide them to conservation.

It is okay to use rain barrels to collect water and use on vegetation. It is illegal to use "brown water" (water from showers and sinks), but rain water is fine. Just be careful to not let it stand because mosquitoes love standing water.

Porter Cologne Act

Since 1969, non-potable (retreated) water has not been allowed in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Porter Cologne Act was created to protect the clarity of the lake since treated water was known to cause algae growth. This is an old law that was created long before all of the water clarity projects had been created in Lake Tahoe.

Water Wasting

There is a centralized reporting system for water waste. It is totally anonymous and people can even upload photos and report on line, or do it by phone. All complaints followed up on daily. Morse and her team investigate, and if they witness the water being wasted, then can fine.

First violation is a warning, 2nd is a $100 fine for residential/$500 for commercial.

Some new trends to be water smart include allowing lawns to die. Something these people don't think about though, when doing this, concerns surrounding trees. If you have a lawn with a lot of trees, and let lawn die, trees will start dying too. Trees have been used to continual water for years. This only affects trees in the lawn areas, not ones that have been thriving in other, normal conditions.

Don’t want to forget conservation efforts when we do have a good winter.