Water Conservation--a Saving Grace

Asked to reduce their water usage in March by 10% from 1986 levels, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers responded with a whopping 29.2% cut. Last month’s heavy rains of course helped by eliminating a lot of landscape watering, but even taking that into account, the DWP figures water consumption fell by 22.8%. That’s not bad. In fact, it’s pretty remarkable, although for now bragging rights have to go to the city of San Diego, where water consumption fell 36.8% from the previous four-year average for March.

These achievements haven’t required any great sacrifices. Savings are coming from such things as shorter showers and from not letting the water run when brushing teeth or shaving. Big savings--up to 10,000 gallons a year--are coming from each low-flush toilet that replaces older models. The DWP, which pays a cash rebate of up to $100 for each such toilet installed, says more than 20,000 have been hooked up in homes since last May.

Conservation, in short, is in almost every case proving to be simple, virtually painless and decidely cost-effective. Can the effort be maintained? Easily, and it has to be. Even if one or two more big storms ultimately make this a normal precipitation year, a lot more rain and snow must fall to replace the losses from preceding drought years. Ground water supplies are a long way from being replenished and key reservoirs remain unfilled. The first month of conservation, though, has been a smashing success. All that’s needed now is to keep up the good work.