Surge in water saving

Margaret Partlow was getting tired of watering the asphalt.

Partlow, who manages the Santa Rosa Southside shopping center on Santa Rosa Avenue that is home to REI and Cost Plus World Market, turned to the city of Santa Rosa for help last year.

She signed on with the city’s “Green Exchange” program, which offers rebates to customers who pull out lush lawns and replace them with drought-resistant plants.

“It just used to bother me to death that we had to water that grass, which has a berm so water runs down onto the parking lot — there is hardly any way to avoid it,” she said. “We thought it was crazy. Why are we watering asphalt?”

As the heat of July marches on, evidence of water conservation is becoming increasingly obvious as homeowners cut back on sprinkler time or abandon lawns altogether in exchange for more drought-resistant plants.

Cities across the county are reporting a voluntary drop in water use in the 25 percent range, matching state demands to the Sonoma County Water Agency that it achieve a 25 percent reduction in the amount of water it pumps from the Russian River.

Santa Rosa created the “Green Exchange” program in the face of increasing restrictions on how much water municipalities can use.

Southside is just one of the approximately 575 Santa Rosa water customers who have taken part in the Green Exchange program. Another 1,300 are lined up to go a little less green in the name of water conservation.

One of them is Evan Peterson, who decided just a few weeks ago to rip out his lawn.

“You’re helping the community and you’re helping yourself by paying less money for water, and it’s less work because you don’t have to mow,” he said Saturday afternoon.

He and his wife, Samira, had spent a day laying down a mulch of wood chips to replace the grass they had been trying to keep green in the front lawn of their home on Sonoma Avenue.

“I ripped out my lawn completely,” Peterson said. “I capped off all my existing sprinklers except for two and made them a drip system.”

He’s spent about $1,500 and expects to get about $300 back from the city. He’s already started cutting back on water use, dropping about 2,000 to 3,000 gallons a month from the 11,000 or so he used last summer. With the lawn gone, he expects water use to drop significantly more.

The water cutbacks and changes to landscaping in front yards are happening across the county.

The water agency’s customers are the cities of Santa Rosa, Windsor, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma and Sonoma and the Valley of the Moon, North Marin and Marin Municipal water districts. Together they serve 600,000 people.

In Windsor, the town council (7/1)earlier this month adopted mandatory water conservation measures that require residents east of Highway 101 to irrigate only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Those who live west of the freeway can use their sprinklers on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

In Rohnert Park, the city sponsors free audits of water use at homes and businesses. Armed with information, Rohnert Park residents have cut back, said Darren Jenkins, public works director.

Usage has plummeted approximately 40 percent since 2004, he said.

“We are doing more than our share of the 25 percent,” he said. “When you see numbers like that, a lot of that is water use behavior and efficiency.”

“We are giving them information because a lot of times the person paying the bills may be in Arkansas,” Jenkins said. “They may not know how much they are using.”

Water use in May in Santa Rosa was down 25 percent from usage a year ago, according to Burke. In April, the difference was 23.5 percent. Figures for June are not yet available but officials said savings should remain on pace with May’s numbers.

“Our customers have answered the call,” said Jennifer Burke, senior water resources planner for the city of Santa Rosa.

On Spring Creek Drive, Lois and Jim Havness have replaced their front and backyard lawns with drought-tolerant plants.

“I wanted plants that would attract the bees and make the environment sound,” said Lois Havness. As a result, she said, their water bill has been reduced by about a third.

The effects of less water are also showing up at public parks.

Conservation efforts coupled with budget woes that have cut into Santa Rosa’s water and maintenance budget are expected to lead to brown grass at smaller neighborhood parks. City workers are concentrating on maintaining larger, high-use community parks like Howarth and Franklin.

“We’ve reduced our watering program so that we place an emphasis on trying to keep the most heavily used turf areas going,” said Marc (cq)Richardson, Santa Rosa’s assistant city manager, who oversees the renamed Recreation, Parks and Community Services Department.

“It’s in our neighborhood parks where people are going to see it most,” Richardson said of the grassy brown-outs. “You are not going to see that right now, more in the fall.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.

com