Our residential water resource planning solution
According to figures released in September 2021, despite an appeal by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July, for all Californians to voluntarily cut water use by 15%, Southern California has lagged in conservation efforts and Los Angeles and San Diego have even experienced a slight increase in water consumption1.
State water officials have been tracking monthly data for more than 400 water suppliers, which includes most of California’s cities, towns and water districts. According to the new data, water use across much of Southern California dropped by just 0.1% overall and rose by 0.7% in Los Angeles and 1.3% in San Diego.
Why do Californians need to reduce water?
In a year when California has dealt with unprecedented levels of heat and extremely dry conditions that have reduced some reservoirs to record breaking low levels, water officials in California are now putting a stronger focus on the need to save water.
The effects of the water shortage really began to show in early spring, when the annual winter rainy season failed to replenish the parched landscape. This was promptly followed by an exceptionally hot summer. As early as March, conditions were dire enough for the US agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, to designate most of California as a primary disaster area. Just two months later, 93% of the south-west and California was in drought, with 38% of the region classified at the highest level2.
The extreme drought has left California’s large reservoirs, from Lake Oroville to Folsom Lake, at some of their lowest levels ever recorded. Precipitation since January 2020 has been the lowest on record since at least 1895, while temperatures have reached the third-highest 20-month average on record.
This year, cities and water districts across the State have obtained just 5% of their full water allotments from the State Water Project, which delivers water via pumps and canals from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California. Next year, those allocations could be reduced to zero.
Water resource planning solutions
The potential remedies for the state’s many drought-related problems are many and varied and far more complicated than simply throwing money at major capital investment. As beneficial as new water infrastructures would be, water experts say it must be part of a larger effort that includes better management of existing water supply including rainwater harvesting, recycled water and changes to outdoor landscaping and farming. Water Districts are also being urged to work with their customers and encourage them to reduce their consumption voluntarily.
The last drought in California ended in 2017. During this drought, Californians showed a willingness to adjust personal behavior and water usage by embracing low-flow showers and toilets and watering their lawns less frequently. It’s at least partly through these conservation efforts that total urban water usage across the state has fallen despite a rising population3.
Our solution for saving water
Advizzo’s customer engagement platform and solutions are designed to help water providers engage with their customers, change their behaviors and reduce their water consumption – by between 1-3% per annum.
We are a global specialist in customer engagement solutions for water and utility companies. We work with water and energy companies throughout the world to help reduce residential consumption using data science and behavioral science techniques combined with a robust customer engagement platform.
How does it work?
- We combine and analyze data to get a clearer picture of a household’s water consumption.
- We send customers personalized water reports that compare their usage with households of a similar demographic.
- We provide customers with bespoke tips based on their usage, that are designed to help them reduce their consumption.
- We engage with customers on our platform and encourage the completion of audits and surveys to acquire additional data, which enables us to further refine our communications.
Engage customer to avoid fines
On May 31, 2018, then State Governor Jerry Brown signed into law two bills that will require urban water providers throughout California to set new permanent water use targets for their service areas.
As a result, in 2022, water agencies will be required to calculate a water efficiency standard for their entire service area that is annually based on indoor residential water use; outdoor water use; as well as commercial, industrial and institutional irrigation.
State Water Boards can be fine water agencies up to $10,000 per day if the agency does not meet its cumulative standard. Find out more about how we can help meet the 2022 legislation targets with our customer engagement solutions for water suppliers.
There’s never been more pressing reasons for California’s water suppliers to engage with their customers, deliver personalized water saving tips and help them reduce their consumption. How will you help customers become more water efficient? Get in touch today to book a demo and discover just how intuitive and powerful our customer engagement platform is.
Source Ref
1https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-21/southern-california-spurns-drought-conservation-request
2https://www.sjgov.org/uploadedfiles/sjc/departments/agcomm/news/annoucements/cadroughtdisaster03052021.pdf
3https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/