Petaluma holding water-usage workshop

Petaluma residents can weigh in at a City Council workshop Monday night on how the city, businesses, residents and the region can reduce water usage to meet state drought mandates.

Public works chief Dan St. John will give the council an overview of what the new state water regulations require, background on the city’s supply and demand and what existing conservation efforts are in place.

The council is expected to discuss a variety of options and recommendations for reducing municipal water use, as well as encouraging businesses and residents to cut back.

Petaluma is one of the first cities to tackle the issue formally as the state ratchets up its requirements to water providers, including the Sonoma County Water Agency, from which most of the county’s cities buy get their water.

Earlier this month, the council briefly discussed a potential building moratorium as a way to reduce water demand, but the idea was shelved until a more in-depth discussion on alternatives could be had.

Since last year, cities have been encouraged to reduce water use by 20 percent statewide, but efforts have fallen short as the severe drought continues.

In March, the State Water Resources Control Board enacted new emergency regulations that required cities to adopt drought contingency plans with day-of-week irrigation restrictions and other mandates.

And this month, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an order directing more stringent conservation measures that go into effect in May.

Petaluma is expected to reach a 16 percent citywide savings compared with summer 2013 use.

The council is expected to discuss ways to reach that goal, including changing the water rate structure to ding water wasters, a “cash for grass” program, beefing up educational outreach to customers, tracking customer use and setting quotas, reaching out to high-volume users, further prohibiting irrigation, toughening landscape standards for new development and requiring the use of recycled water for construction and dust control.

Other measures, considered less effective by city leaders, could include “behavior change programs,” increased rebate programs, water conservations credits, encouraging gray-water systems and rain barrels, or prohibiting filling new swimming pools.

Council members have said they want to lead by example, which could mean an increase in the use of reclaimed water on city land and parks, reducing the washing of fleet vehicles, increased mulching and “retrofitting” of grassed areas, and performing a water audit.

St. John recommends several citywide restrictions that could begin as early as June 1, including, among other things:

Three-day per week irrigation

Outreach to high-demand customers

Better customer tracking and enforcement against those who don’t cut back

Increased technical support and outreach to customers trying to cut back

Increased enforcement of water-use rules

Prohibiting watering of turf on street medians

Requiring any new construction landscaping be drip or microspray

The meeting begins at ?6 p.m. in council chambers, 11 English St. The council will meet again on June 1 to potentially adopt a new plan.

You can reach Lori A. ?Carter at 521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.