St. Helena City Council To Discuss Penalties For Water Wasters

ST. HELENA, CA — The city of St. Helena strongly encouraged all residents and businesses this week to join efforts to conserve its water supply, particularly water used for outdoor irrigation.

"The more pro-active customers are now at conserving water, the better the City will be able to manage long-term if the water shortage becomes an extended situation," said Martin Beltran, a management analyst for the city's Public Works Department.

The city remains in Phase II Water Shortage Emergency because of limited rainfall this season and the low level of the city's reservoir, Beltran said Monday in a news release.

The elevation Monday of Bell Canyon Reservoir was 400.11 feet — equivalent to only 40 percent capacity and very low compared to last year's 70.2 percent capacity for the same time period, Beltran said.

The city limited water use for all customers Oct. 27 when it established the Phase II Water Shortage Emergency.

At the March 23 City Council meeting, council members are scheduled to review penalty options associated with water use in excess of Phase II regulations, which are posted on the city's website.

In the meantime, all city water customers who have not yet taken the brief Phase II Water Emergency survey are encouraged to complete it online at Cityofsthelena.org/watersurvey by March 15.

The city offered the following ideas for saving water at home:

Limit outdoor water use. Turn off sprinklers before and after rain events and reduce the amount of watering time. Consider installation of drought-tolerant landscaping. Do not water between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., otherwise, some of the water will be lost to evaporation. Early morning is better. Adjust or deactivate automatic sprinklers on cool, overcast days.

Fix leaky faucets, toilets, appliances, and sprinklers. Leaks vary in amount, but they can account for a lot of wasted water over time.

Fill the dishwasher. Wait until you have a full dishwasher to run the machine.

Take a shower instead of a bath and take shorter showers. As reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), if you shower for 5 minutes or less you will use about 10 to 15 gallons of water compared to baths, which use up to 70 gallons of water.

Turn off the water when brushing your teeth. According to the EPA, this simple act may save more than 200 gallons of water in a single month.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• St. Helena Implements Emergency Water-Use Restrictions
• St. Helena Water Emergency: City Enacts Phase I Measures