Santa Clara County's tough approach to water conservation may be paying off
SAN JOSE -- The Santa Clara Valley Water District is preparing to release its latest drought report and water conservation numbers Friday. A spokesperson for the district says customers are finally listening to calls to conserve in the face of a persistent and deepening drought.
"We're starting to increase the amount of conservation we're seeing. We're seeing it our charts. People are starting to pay attention and are using less water," said water district chairman John Varela.
Previously, the response to calls to cut water usage by 15% were fairly dismal. According to the water district, usage went up 2% in April -- the last month for which official numbers have been released.
Nicholas Kenny and Matthew Tran are sophomores at Santa Clara University. They are also children of drought, for whom notions of water scarcity and conservation are just baked into how they see the world.
"We don't wash our cars. We don't water unnecessary landscaping," said Kenny.
"Being in a drought has always been in the front of my conscious mind growing up. So we never water plants during the daytime," explained Tran.
The water district is shifting from education to a more aggressive crackdown on water wasters. They have sent out 485 letters of warning which could be followed up with fines. Tran said that's long overdue.
"All it takes is a little change of perspective to think about how their actions can affect the greater Northern California region in terms of the drought," he said.