All together, about 298.60 million gallons of water flowed out of Santa Monica’s cumulative taps in the month of July 2022, an 8% reduction compared to the 325.42 million gallons of water local customers consumed in the same month of 2021.
The cutbacks followed an ordinance, enacted on July 5, that reduced outdoor watering to twice weekly, on alternating days determined by street address.
Last week, headlines around Los Angeles touted the 11% reduction in water use that city achieved in the month of July this year compared to July 2021. Now, Santa Monica numbers are out, showing a reduction of 8% year-over-last for the month of July. But local water experts said the 8% reduction in water use was perhaps more impressive than LA’s 11% cut, because local residents and business owners have been water conscious for years.
“I think our residents have been doing a great job already,” Santa Monica Water Resources Manager Sunny Wang said following the release of the latest water use figures.
“We already have a lot of drip irrigation conversions. We have a lot of turf replacement already,” Wang later continued. “So, for us to achieve similar numbers to LA will be a little different, because we’re a smaller city and our residents have already done a lot to conserve … I think 8% is great for us in terms of how much we already conserve and we’re conserving even more on top of that.”
Wang and water sustainability analyst Thomas Fleming said a key indicator of how well Santa Monica has been at reducing its water consumption is the month-over-next comparison between June and July. As temperatures and tourism increase, Wang said water use usually jumps up in July compared to June, but this year that increase has been only about a third of what it was in 2021.
In June 2021, Santa Monicans used 304.01 million gallons of water, jumping up 7% to 325.42 million gallons in July 2021. But in June 2022, 290.76 million gallons of water flowed from Santa Monica spigots, going up 2.7% to 298.6 million gallons used in July this year.
“That’s another indicator that our residents are really responding to conserving water due to our outdoor two-day-a-week … water restriction,” Wang said.
Currently, restrictions allow residents at even-numbered addresses to water their lawns on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while odd-numbered addresses may water on Mondays and Wednesdays. Wang said the City has received some pushback from residents who were unhappy that the current schedule leaves lawns unwatered for four days. Instead, many residents who have lawns and outdoor landscaping would prefer a Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday schedule to space out watering.
For now, Wang said, the City is not confident its infrastructure could support the strain of allowing half of all residents to irrigate their lawns on a Friday, when business water use spikes due to increased visitors.
“We see a huge surge because of tourism — people visiting and stuff — on the weekends,” Wang said. But, he added, if staff deem it safe, they may readjust the schedule. He did say that the current schedule has helped protect the city from water main breaks so far.
The update on water use came on the heels of news from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that portions of LA County would be forced to eliminate outdoor watering for at least 15 days in September to allow for water pipeline repair.
That increased water restriction would not affect Santa Monica customers, Wang said, thanks to the city’s ability to shift to other water sources.
Malibu and Topanga, Beverly Hills, most of the South Bay (excluding the City of Los Angeles), Long Beach, parts of the western San Gabriel Valley including Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, and eastern LA County areas including Walnut and Pomona are part of the two-week outdoor watering ban.
emily@smdp.com
