City Begins Planning to Reach Its Water Conservation Goal : Drought: City will have to use 17 million gallons a day less to meet voluntary 10% reduction in June.

The city of San Diego will have to cut water use by as much as 17 million gallons a day during June if the city is to reach its voluntary goal of a 10% water-use reduction, Water Department Director Milon Mills said Thursday.

According to a formula that incorporates past water consumption levels, average daily temperatures and growth patterns during the past five years, the city Water Department estimates that San Diego’s residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural water customers typically would use about 248 million gallons of water on “the average June day,” Mills said.

However, word of the region’s drought evidently has prompted some San Diegans to begin conserving, because, in recent days, the city has delivered about 240 million gallons a day to its customers. For example, Mills said, water use hardly rose during one weekend early in the month when temperatures soared to record or near-record levels.

Based upon that lower-than-anticipated demand, it looks good for San Diego to reach its goal of cutting water use to about 223 million gallons per day, Mills said.

The city will formulate goals for following months based upon past water-use levels and temperatures, Mills said. Those goals will be difficult to set for the hotter summer months, however, because water use changes each year depending upon “what kind of Santa Ana winds develop.”

Water department officials next week will begin sending water-use reports to the City Council weekly, Mills said. The first weekly report is due Tuesday.

Mills spoke at the initial gathering of a water task force that Mayor Maureen O’Connor has assembled to make sure that San Diegans respond to a regional drought by voluntarily cutting water use.

The San Diego City Council earlier this week elected to ignore a San Diego County Water Authority request to set in place mandatory water conservation programs that limit when residents could water lawns, wash cars and fill swimming pools. With O’Connor at the lead, council members instead opted for a voluntary conservation program. However, council members agreed to establish mandatory controls in 60 days if the voluntary effort fails.

“We take this very seriously,” O’Connor said of the voluntary program unveiled Thursday. “It’s San Diego’s way of solving this problem. We’re much better off (on conservation) now than we were two weeks ago.”

O’Connor called San Diego’s voluntary effort “the opportunity to show the state that you can govern through cooperation . . . your mayor’s reputation is on the line, along with the city’s reputation.”

“I’d like to stress our commitment to making voluntary (conservation) work,” county Water Authority Executive Director Lester Snow said Thursday. “At this point, we don’t care how it’s done.”

Snow once again cautioned city leaders that, without a dramatic cut in use this year--and given an unprecedented fifth year of drought next year--San Diegans will face severe mandatory rationing designed to cut use by 25%.

Snow called for a “massive media bombardment” designed to alert San Diegans, as well as county residents outside of the city, on the 10 best ways to reduce water consumption.

Those conservation techniques include:

* Watering lawns between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., and adjusting sprinkling systems seasonally.

* Running dishwashers and washing machines only when full.

* Planting drought-resistant plants, trees and shrubs in mulch.

* Using a broom--not a hose--to clean sidewalks, patios and driveways.

* Using a bucket and a sponge, not a hose, to wash vehicles.

* Not letting water run constantly while shaving, brushing teeth or doing dishes.

* Taking shorter showers.

City Manager John Lockwood on Thursday pledged that the city would join the ranks of large water users, including the Navy and Marines, which have pledged to cut water use.