Thirsty Lawns in Crisis Area to Get Water Gift

The call went out Wednesday for the water cavalry.

As residents in South and East County fretted about warming days and wilting landscaping as they entered the fifth day of severe water cutbacks, the Otay Water District began enlisting the help of volunteer tank drivers to help water lawns and gardens.

In a neighborly offer by San Diego city officials, the Otay district was invited to belly up to a couple of fire hydrants so tanker trucks could be filled with thousands of gallons of water.

The trucks will then travel up and down neighborhood streets in the Otay district--which includes Rancho San Diego, Otay Mesa and parts of Chula Vista and El Cajon. They’ll stop wherever they’re beckoned to water outdoor landscaping, said Keith Lewinger, general manager of the Otay Water District.

All that’s needed now, Lewinger said, are the trucks, and several water truck contractors said they would be available first thing this morning to lend a hand.

“We’re asking for two things: first, for contractors to offer their trucks,” Lewinger said. “Then, we’re asking people to put up signs or flags on their front lawns so the truck drivers know where to stop and water. We hope to keep this up through the entire weekend.”

And while San Diego is keeping track of the water being siphoned off for Otay’s use and will send it the bill, the Otay district will offer the water free to its customers.

“These sorts of trucks carry about 4,000 gallons of water,” he said. “That’s enough for several homes along a street. Then they’ll go back to the fire hydrants, fill up in three minutes, and return. I’d love to see 100 trucks lined up at the hydrants.”

Otay’s announcement was some of the good news--coupled with some pesky bad news--to come Wednesday in the wake of last week’s break in a seven-foot-diameter water pipeline that delivers treated, imported water for the 375,000 persons living in the Otay, Helix and Padre Dam Municipal water districts.

The San Diego County Water Authority, which owns the pipeline, said crews on Wednesday were working on schedule in replacing the broken line with 40 feet of new pipeline. By Friday, concrete will be poured around the sections, and the pipeline should be charged and operating by next Tuesday, said John Economides, engineering manager for the water authority.

“It appears we’ll meet our (Tuesday) schedule, but you never know what will happen in this business,” he said.

And residents continued to cut back on their water use, officials said.

The Otay district, which on Tuesday reported that Monday’s water cutback was 67%, said Wednesday that Tuesday’s cutback had slipped to 55%.

“It may have been that Tuesday was a laundry or shower day for a lot of people,” laughed Lewinger on Wednesday. “People can only go so long without using water. The 67% was really amazing, and it’s difficult to keep that kind of conservation level up for an extended period.”

The Padre Dam district cut back on its water use by 60% on Tuesday, compared to 50% the previous day, spokeswoman Lesley Melenchuk said Wednesday.

“Our people are getting better,” she said. “One woman called to ask if she could wash her dog, because she usually does it outdoors.”

In the Helix Water District--whose customers are spoiled by the knowledge that they can tap the Lake Jennings reservoir, which has weeks’ worth of drinking water--consumption has been reduced by about a third, said spokeswoman Shirley Massie.

That district continues to send surplus Lake Jennings water to the neighboring Otay and Padre Dam districts, which only have three days’ water capacity in their storage tanks, she said.

The day’s only bad news was that the Helix district suffered insult with injury when a 12-inch cast-metal water main burst mid-afternoon beneath Broadway, between First Street and Anza Avenue. The main was expected to be repaired by mid-day today.

“It didn’t have much effect on our conservation effort,” Massie said. “We got there fast.”