In response to persistent, exceptional drought conditions throughout the Santa Clarita Valley and the state, SCV Water activated Stage one of its Water Shortage Contingency Plan and Water Conservation and Water Supply Shortage Ordinance this week.  

Stage one establishes a framework to prohibit common, but easy to correct, water waste practices, according to officials. 

These activities are set to convert wasted water to beneficial use for future years should drought conditions persist and are attended to assist the Valley with the Governor’s 15 percent of 2020 voluntary conservation call, according to officials.  

“Our customer’s efforts are trending in the right direction, but we still need to work together to ramp up additional conservation across the Santa Clarita Valley, so we can achieve our voluntary target,” said SCV Water’s General Manager Matt Stone. “We’ve saved during past droughts, and we’re confident our customers will take this call to practice voluntary conservation to heart.” 

California has entered its third year of drought and reservoirs remain at critically low levels, according to officials. 

These conditions prompted Governor Newsom to proclaim a statewide drought State of Emergency and call on all Californians to voluntarily reduce their water usage by 15 percent. Additionally, as the statewide conservation response in July and August fell short of the goal, the governor’s emergency proclamation directs agencies to execute their urban Water Shortage Contingency Plans to supplement voluntary conservation, according to officials. 

Stage one of the Agency’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan and Water Conservation Supply Shortage Ordinance not only supports water conservation through strategies prioritizing education and engagement, but also includes prohibition of certain wasteful water practices, according to officials. 

In light of both statewide and local hydrologic conditions, consecutive dry water years, record low precipitation, and in response to the governor’s emergency proclamations, SCV Water has proactively implemented strategies to mitigate potential supply shortages, educate the public on the status and impacts of the current drought, and to encourage water conservation, officials said.  

“SCV Water is drought-ready,” said SCV Water’s Sustainability Manager Matt Dickens. “Curbing 

water waste, especially outdoors, is simple and low cost, and SCV Water offers our customers many programs to increase water efficiency. We are here to help.” 

The Stage one action encourages customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by a minimum of 10 percent and to participate in the many available programs to increase water-use efficiency, including: Rebates for turf replacement, smart irrigation controllers, high-efficiency irrigation upgrades, Free Home Drought Ready Check-Ups, irrigation tune-ups, leak detection device incentives,  online WaterSMART Workshop, gardening classes and other resources. 

In addition, watering restrictions take effect that prohibit the following actions: 

• Allowing runoff onto non-irrigated areas when irrigating with potable drinking water 
• Using hoses with no shutoff nozzles to wash cars 
• Using potable water to wash sidewalks, driveways and hardscapes.
• Using potable water in decorative water features that do not recirculate the water.
• Irrigating outdoors during and within 48 hours following precipitation of a quarter inch or more. 
• The irrigation with potable water of ornamental turf on public street medians. 

“We know that many of our customers already embrace these water-wise practices, and just hope to remind them that these simple actions can achieve significant savings,” Dickens said. 

To further support these efforts, SCV Water is set to increase public outreach and education for customers and community, according to officials. 

The Agency has also partnered with the City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County Waterworks District #36 to form a Sustainable Water Action Team (SWAT), to coordinate drought efforts and outreach, according to officials. 

SCV Water is expected to continue to monitor the situation to determine the best 

next course of action. 

For more information and resources, click here.

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