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As the drought lingers on it is important now, more than ever, to ensure that we are preventing water waste whenever possible. The District undertook an Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) Project starting in 2017, which consisted of replacing all water meters two inches and under. Water meters typically have a lifespan of 15-20 years and ours were in need of replacement to ensure they were registering and recording water consumption accurately. In addition to replacing water meters, encoder radio transmitters (ERTs), commonly referred to as “endpoints” in the AMI industry, were attached to each meter to collect water consumption data and report it to our District office. This new infrastructure has completely transformed the way that our agency interacts with metered water data and has improved our ability to respond to customer leaks. You may remember in the past we had meter readers in orange vests driving around town on scooters at the end of each month physically lifting water meter lids and reading the meter’s screen to allow us to complete our monthly billing. When this was our method of obtaining reads, we only received one data point every 30 days, unless we were called out to the meter to get an ending read if someone was moving out. This meant that if you had a toilet leak unbeknownst to you running 2 gallons per minute every minute that month, you would have used 86,400 extra gallons of water over 30 days that you might not know about until you received your water bill. Your water bill would have an additional 115 units of water tacked on to it resulting in hundreds of extra dollars owed. Our old infrastructure and system did not allow for staff or customers to see this information until it was far too late. Now, our new equipment and its associated technology provide a tool for District staff and customers to catch these unexpected and wasteful continuous flows of water. Continuous flow alerts are sent when the meter reports that water has been flowing for 24 hours straight without a 15-minute period of no flow. Our conservation staff and field customer service representative help to monitor leak alerts using an online portal that pulls in water meter data 4 times each weekday. We hang tags and call customers if we are alerted of large continuous flow alerts. The great news is that this tool is not just available to us, but customers can quickly and easily set up an account at https://eyeonwater.com/signup to view the same information for their account. Customers can also set up leak alerts to be sent to their e-mail or cell phone after the system registers 24 hours of continuous flow. The District has already used this tool to save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and notify customers of excessive, atypical water consumption. One customer forgot to turn off a garden hose when watering a tree in their backyard and accidentally used 616 gallons per hour (over 10 gallons per minute) for approximately 43 hours, resulting in over 27,000 gallons of water used. This added an additional 37 units and over $100 to their monthly bill. Another customer had a large leak in their backyard’s irrigation system at their vacation property. Water was running continuously at around 2,292 gallons per hour (38.2 gallons per minute) and they used over 97,000 gallons over the course of 42 hours. Our field staff responded to the leak alert to find a completely flooded backyard and was able to shut the meter off on the customer side until repairs could be made and the owners could assess the damage. This equated to over 120 units of water accidentally being used and several hundred dollars added to their monthly bill. Imagine if a leak was inside their home and went undetected for an extended period. Unrepaired leaks like this have the potential to cause thousands of dollars of water damage to businesses and homes if no one is looking for a leak. Instances like this demonstrate that creating an account is not only important for saving water and monitoring your use, but also can be important for preventing costly damage. We are excited to see many of our customers creating their own EyeOnWater accounts and setting up leak alerts so that they can be aware of abnormal water use and act quickly to prevent water waste. Creating an account is easy to do and only requires that you have your water account number found on your water bill. If you need assistance with creating an account at https://eyeonwater.com/signup, setting up alerts, or understanding the consumption data it displays you can call the office at 805-684-2816 or e-mail eyeonwaterinfo@cvwd.net. In addition to providing the EyeOnWater tool, the District continues to offer rebates for residential and commercial customers for water conservation fixtures and appliances as well as rebates on WaterWise Landscape upgrades. If you are looking for a fall project, you can get some financial assistance with transforming your lawn and replacing it with native and low water use plants. E-mail conservation@cvwd.net for additional information. For District updates, please visit our website cvwd.net, follow us on twitter @CarpWater, or Carpinteria Valley Water District on Facebook and Nextdoor.  

After another dry winter and very little response in conservation, we are likely entering a Stage 3 Drought this fall. We missed out on much-needed rain this year and Lake Cachuma is down to 40% capacity. Since October of last year, we have only received 9.9 inches of rain, with less than 2 inches of that being from January through the beginning of August. Carpinteria Valley Water District issued a Stage 2 Drought Emergency in October of 2021 and mandated a 20% reduction in water consumption. To date, we have not seen much action to conserve water. Our customers have reduced consumption by less than 3%. We cannot stress enough how important it is to reduce your water use at this time, especially looking forward over the next 5 years. Balancing water supply and water needs without putting stress on the Carpinteria Groundwater Basin while State Water Project and Cachuma Project water supplies dry up is exceptionally challenging. With a good chance of another dry La Niña winter ahead, we are looking at purchasing 400 acre-feet of supplemental water this year for a whopping $600,000. As of the time of this writing, about 60% of the State is still facing extreme drought; this means we must be prepared for times when these opportunities to purchase additional water are not available. We need to make every effort to be water wise now and make our existing water supplies last into the future. As we strategize how to manage our water resources, it is likely that we will move into a Stage 3 Drought in October of 2022 with a mandatory 30% reduction in water use and may have to move into a Stage 4 Drought as early as April of 2023, which mandates a 40% reduction in water use. If we do not conserve our water now, we will have a water shortage starting in water year 2025, which runs from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 (Figure 1). On the other hand, if we abide by Stage 3 drought mandates, we will have adequate water over the next 5 years with the Carpinteria Advanced Purification Project (CAPP) slated to start construction in 2025 (Figure 2).   [caption id="attachment_5059" align="alignnone" width="640"] Figure 1, Water Supply by Year, No Conservation - 5 Year Outlook[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_5060" align="alignnone" width="640"] Figure 2, Graph of Water Supply, Stage 3 Condition - 5 Year Outlook[/caption]   Our Water Waste Reporting phone line has received reports of customers who are not aware of some of our current Stage 2 Drought regulations. By adapting to these changes, we can stretch our resources father and prevent strain on our groundwater basin. Here are a few important points to remember:

1. If you plan to use water to clean buildings, driveways, or sidewalks you must receive approval from the District. This activity should be limited to health & safety-related cleaning.
2. Irrigation on landscaping shall not runoff onto hardscape/non-landscaped areas.
3. Irrigation by hose or movable sprinkler may not occur between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for yards, parks, recreation areas, or other landscaped areas.
4. Irrigation through fixed systems (sprinkler systems) is prohibited between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
5. Customers shall not irrigate turf or ornamental landscapes during or within twenty-four hours of measurable rainfall.
6. Residential, commercial, public authority, and industrial customers shall not irrigate landscape more than 3 days a week.
7. Free-flowing hoses for all uses are prohibited, including while washing boats and vehicles; we ask that you use self-closing shut off valves as an easy way to prevent water waste.
8. Hotels, motels, and restaurants are required to display notices of drought conditions and provide suggested actions for saving water at their facilities. If your business is in need of drought notice signage, please e-mail conservation@cvwd.net.

The full list of drought regulations can be found on our website at https://cvwd.net/your-water/supply-facilities/drought-information/. There are many ways that you can make conservation a way of life and save water without much effort at all.  Simple acts such as turning off the water while brushing your teeth or filling buckets of water when waiting for it to warm up are easy ways to reduce your use. In addition, all District customers now have access to a free EyeOnWater account which allows for you to check your detailed water consumption and monitor for leaks.  Customers can sign up and create an account at https://eyeonwater.com/signup. You can configure leak alerts to be delivered to you by text or e-mail after you establish an account. We continue to offer rebates to residential and commercial customers for water conservation fixtures and appliances as well as rebates on WaterWise Landscape upgrades. Fall is a great time to transform your landscape and swap out your turf for natives and low water-use plants. The cooler weather in upcoming months puts less stress on new plants and allows for the root systems to become established. Looking for a fall project? If you are interested in transforming your yard and removing turf, please e-mail conservation@cvwd.net. For District updates, please visit our website cvwd.net, follow us on Twitter @CarpWater, or Carpinteria Valley Water District on Facebook and Nextdoor.  

The District is in the process of a major rehabilitation project named the Lateral Isolation Valve Replacement (LIVR). The project involves the replacement of main shut off valves at each of the turn outs off the South Coast Conduit. This Thursday, June 23rd, the valves located at Lateral 2 will be replaced. Customers will have water but may notice a drop in pressure during peak times of the day as the system will be re-routed. See map below of affected area or click here to view larger map. The project is planned to take place from 8:00 am -5:00 pm on Thursday, June 23, 2022. If you have any questions please feel free to contact, District Engineer, Brian King by email or phone at 805-684-2816x107.