SAN CLEMENTE, DANA POINT : Water District Taps Students for Starters

As Orange County goes through its third year of sub-par rainfall, the Tri-Cities Municipal Water District is preparing a water conservancy program for the cities of San Clemente and Dana Point.

The first step, unveiled by the district this month, is a campaign to teach consumers early.

Focusing on elementary schools, the water district will promote contests for third- and fourth-grade students in six schools. Fourth-grade students will participate in an essay contest on water conservation.

Third-graders will spend February preparing posters on water conservancy themes. The district will review the artwork next month and display about 250 of the posters in April.

Winners of each contest will receive a $50 savings bond.

The posters will be shown in public places throughout the summer months in hopes of increasing awareness of the drought conditions that water officials say are gripping South County.

Last summer, the tri-cities district regional pipeline and reservoir system had trouble meeting the water needs of the area, say officials.

Several water alerts were issued by the district and city officials called for voluntary rationing.

“It got pretty serious before the city (San Clemente) figured out ways to cut back on water usage from the business community,” said Ray Woodside, general manager of the tri-cities district.

With dry weather and new construction adding more connections to the water system, district officials say the water supply will continue to shrink unless demand is reduced.

“The more water we save, the better shape we’ll be in,” Woodside said. “That’s the reason for the school programs.”

Elementary schools participating in the contest include Concordia, Truman Benedict, Ole Hanson and Las Palmas schools in San Clemente. Dana Point schools involved in the program will be Palisades in Capistrano Beach and Richard Henry Dana school.

The Tri-Cities Municipal Water District sends wholesale water to the city of San Clemente and the Capistrano Beach County Water District.