Water Blogged

Call for conservation continues

2022 is off to the driest start for San Jose in recent history.

A now third year of the California drought is deepening after a promising winter start. A very wet December followed by a dry January, February and March means conservation has never been more important.

In February 2022, water usage climbed 20% over the same time period in 2019. Valley Water, the water wholesaler for Santa Clara County, has asked residents to cut back water use by 15% from 2019 levels.

You may be wondering why we are talking about March results in May. It takes about two months to gather the data and for usage numbers to be released.

The dry start to 2022 continued into March with only .36 inches of rain falling during the first three months of the year. A typical year of rainfall during the same period is 7.45 inches of rain. Truth is, it can be tough to conserve during the winter months. Water usage tends to be primarily indoors. This means cutting back usage in showers, toilet flushing, dishwashing, and laundry for most residences.

Image

When two eight-year-old boys learned about their

Image

Most of us grew up with the

San Jose Water typically uses an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for inspections and sediment collection in our tanks. However, the team found a new use for the ROV when a large tank sprung a leak.

Community involvement is a key part of our commitment to the places where we live, work and serve.  Contributions include both monetary donations as well as volunteer time and talent. While COVID-19 may have cut short our in-person community outreach efforts in 2020, a new series of virtual partnerships emerged.