Sacramento Area Water Districts Reducing Outdoor Water Days

The 173,000 customers of the Sacramento Surburban Water District, from Carmichael to Antelope, are currently allowed to water two days a week on an odd-even schedule. 

Now, the district wants customers to cut that to one day a week. 

Under a California state mandate, SSWD is required to reduce its water use by 32 percent from June through February 2016 compared to the same period in 2013. 

District Assistant General Manager Dan York says, so far, customers are meeting the requirement. 

"Right now we're at about 35 percent, so the board members decided to just ask for a voluntary reduction to one day," says York. "And we'll probably meet again in October to see where the numbers are at and, we'll probably ask for direction if they're dropping." 

York says the district hopes the voluntary request brings the same level of conservation. 

But he says reaching the conservation goal over the winter months means reducing water use indoors. 

"The opportunity to gain the largest reduction is in the irrigation months, and so we would like to hit that same target during the winter months, when the irrigation is not being utilized, but we have to ask the customer to reduce even further, the internal use of water," says York. 

Other water providers in the Sacramento region are moving to mandatory outdoor watering restrictions. 

Roseville will restrict outdoor watering to one day a week starting October 5. 

The City of Sacramento will have the same restriction, but starting November 1.  

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