Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Wake the f*** up. We’re in a drought.

Rancho Santa Fe residents among biggest water users

Water use categorized by the county's 23 distribution networks
Water use categorized by the county's 23 distribution networks

A new study on water consumption in the San Diego region has conservationists renewing a call for mandatory restrictions on residential water use, including ramping up enforcement efforts and considering implementation of currently temporary measures on a permanent basis.

The "H2Overview" report, prepared by non-profit think tank Equinox Center, studied water use across San Diego's 23 distribution networks and found a near-universal increase in demand for water per resident during the past five years, despite an increasingly severe drought and increasing regulations regarding water use, such as San Diego's restrictions on landscape maintenance.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Some of the worst offenders on the list included wealthier areas with more landscaping per capita to maintain, where non-native plants have demanded extra water to survive the exceptionally hot and dry climate in recent years.

Santa Fe Irrigation District, servicing the pricey enclave of Rancho Santa Fe, saw a 30 percent increase in water demand during a time the state is urging (to this point through only voluntary efforts) a 20 percent reduction in use. The district's residents used more than five times as much water on a daily basis as the average county inhabitant.

"Water-use trends uncovered in Equinox Center’s report don’t surprise us,” Matt O’Malley, representing local conservation group San Diego Coastkeeper, said in a February 17 release. “This is why Coastkeeper has long advocated for mandatory conservation measures to change water-use habits — rules that should become the new normal for the region and that cities must enforce."

The Equinox report notes that encouraging conservation is one of the lowest-cost methods of dealing with the region's water shortage. Water recycling and desalination, two measures in some stage of local development, are some of the costliest.

Still, the report stops short of the permanent restrictions on water use Coastkeeper is advocating. Equinox points instead to better monitoring and reporting standards, stating the belief that "What gets measured, gets managed better."

The group also reiterates suggestions from their last report in 2012, calling for stronger "green" building standards in new development, tiered pricing to encourage voluntary conservation, and continued public education campaigns such as the ones currently being employed on local broadcast media.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Water use categorized by the county's 23 distribution networks
Water use categorized by the county's 23 distribution networks

A new study on water consumption in the San Diego region has conservationists renewing a call for mandatory restrictions on residential water use, including ramping up enforcement efforts and considering implementation of currently temporary measures on a permanent basis.

The "H2Overview" report, prepared by non-profit think tank Equinox Center, studied water use across San Diego's 23 distribution networks and found a near-universal increase in demand for water per resident during the past five years, despite an increasingly severe drought and increasing regulations regarding water use, such as San Diego's restrictions on landscape maintenance.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Some of the worst offenders on the list included wealthier areas with more landscaping per capita to maintain, where non-native plants have demanded extra water to survive the exceptionally hot and dry climate in recent years.

Santa Fe Irrigation District, servicing the pricey enclave of Rancho Santa Fe, saw a 30 percent increase in water demand during a time the state is urging (to this point through only voluntary efforts) a 20 percent reduction in use. The district's residents used more than five times as much water on a daily basis as the average county inhabitant.

"Water-use trends uncovered in Equinox Center’s report don’t surprise us,” Matt O’Malley, representing local conservation group San Diego Coastkeeper, said in a February 17 release. “This is why Coastkeeper has long advocated for mandatory conservation measures to change water-use habits — rules that should become the new normal for the region and that cities must enforce."

The Equinox report notes that encouraging conservation is one of the lowest-cost methods of dealing with the region's water shortage. Water recycling and desalination, two measures in some stage of local development, are some of the costliest.

Still, the report stops short of the permanent restrictions on water use Coastkeeper is advocating. Equinox points instead to better monitoring and reporting standards, stating the belief that "What gets measured, gets managed better."

The group also reiterates suggestions from their last report in 2012, calling for stronger "green" building standards in new development, tiered pricing to encourage voluntary conservation, and continued public education campaigns such as the ones currently being employed on local broadcast media.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Next Article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader