Santa Monica uses rebates, grants to get residents to conserve water
The 363 water bottles stacked in a pyramid in Santa Monica City Hall represent the 144 gallons of water the average resident uses in Santa Monica each day. With a goal to cut water waste 20 percent by 2010, the City of Santa Monica Environmental Programs Division display helps people visualize how much water is used for such things as shaving, showering, washing clothes, doing dishes and irrigating gardens. The pyramid also helps people visualize how much water can be saved. Santa Monica’s total daily water use is approximately 13 million gallons a day, which is significantly higher than expected for a city of its size, according to the city Environmental Programs Division. To offset residential, business and tourism growth that will place further pressure on city water resources in the years ahead, Santa Monica is offering residents and businesses incentive plans to save water. “Water use has been fairly steady, considering that Santa Monica is growing at one percent a year,” says Kim O’Cain, Santa Monica water resources specialist. “Now with rebuilding, water use is going up and we want to bring it down.” Santa Monica receives the majority of its water from the Northern California Sierra, according to O’Cain. Even with record rains, snow pack in the areas relied upon for Santa Monica water is below normal. Some quick fixes for cutting water waste include checking for...
Read More