OJAI : Water Consumption Down 25% in June

The Casitas Municipal Water District is reporting a 25% reduction in water usage in June compared with the same month last year.

The water company, which sells 40% of its water to Ventura residents and the rest to those in the Ojai Valley, asked all its customers in April to voluntarily reduce their water consumption by 20%.

Casitas customers, who used 2,485 acre-feet of water during June, 1989, consumed only 1,861 acre-feet this June, said Richard Barnett, Casitas’ chief engineer.

But Barnett said that it is too soon to tell if voluntary conservation efforts in the Ojai Valley will prevent the need for mandatory water rationing in the future.

“A large part of that savings is probably Ventura,” Barnett said Tuesday after city officials reported that Ventura residents have cut water use by 25% since the city started mandatory rationing two months ago.

Casitas officials had warned for several months prior to April that mandatory rationing would go into effect next year if the voluntary program does not succeed in cutting water use by at least 20% this year.

Barnett said the real test of voluntary conservation will occur during the next three months when water usage is usually highest for agricultural and residential irrigation.