Town Manager, Steve Rogers, released a letter yesterday sharing more information about where the town is at in its water conservation efforts, as well as a call to action for all community members. Below is the writing of Steve Rogers:
Yountville is in an exceptional drought situation according to the drought monitor. While we welcome the thought of fall and winter rains, we need to remember that even a few strong storms will not end our drought. We need significant rainy season rainfall to fill Rector Reservoir and to recharge our local groundwater aquifers. On May 4, 2021, the Town Council approved a Phase 2 Water Emergency by adopting modified Phase 2 Water Restrictions with the request for voluntary reduction of 20% in our water use. To date, we are not achieving that goal. For the month of September, our level of reduction was only 7.2%. We have been put on notice by the Veterans Home that they are only planning to provide the Town with 400-acre feet of water rather than the typical 500 or more the Town purchases and consumes in a normal year.
Collectively we must come together to reduce our water consumption, or we could face significantly more severe challenges and less available water next year.
As a result, the Town is taking the following actions:
- First, thanks to those of you who are doing your part to reduce water consumption.
- Blue courtesy door hanger notices – these are courtesy notices of a violation of the current water restrictions such as watering on the wrong day(s), allowing water to runoff into the street, or excess water use. One of the most common violations noted are people watering on the right days but using way too much water. If you receive a courtesy blue notice, please call us at (707) 944-8851 or email waterconservation@yville.com and our staff can help you understand your situation. Please check or have your landscaper examine your irrigation controllers to make the appropriate adjustment to water on the correct day and in minimal amounts. You can also check out the Town website and click on the water conservation button on the home page for more information.
- Evaluate your outdoor landscaping. Locally, about 42% of our summer water use goes for your outdoor landscaping. If you have a grass turf backyard, consider replacing it with a collection of drought tolerant landscaping and hardscape. The Town has its “Cash for Grass” program in partnership with the City of Napa and can help contribute to offset the cost of replacing your turf. For more information, please see https://www.cityofnapa.org/585/Cash-For-Grass
- If you have a landscape or park median strip (space between the street curb and sidewalk) this area MUST be irrigated with drip irrigation. Use of traditional overhead sprinklers are now prohibited. If you have one of these medians the Town will be sending you a letter with regards to your median strip and the requirement that it can only use drip irrigation along with information on our “Flip your Strip” program. As a part of the Cash for Grass Program, the Flip Your Strip may help offset the cost of replacing your landscape park median strip and/or converting your existing irrigation system to drip.
- The Town is taking action to monitor water usage on all commercial and residential accounts to identify potential leak activity. If leak activity is noticed, utility account holders will be notified and given time to fix the leaks. Failure to fix the leaks could result in fines for water wasting.
- The Town is also monitoring utility accounts to determine high volume water users who may be using more than 13,500 gallons per month which equates to 450 gallons per day. 450 gallons is the equivalent of 90 five-gallon bucket of water used in one day. Imagine if you had to carry 90 five-gallon buckets of water from the creek to your house every day.
- Please do your part to conserve water. The Town does not want to impose fines and penalties on our residents for violating the water use restrictions that are in place. But we need you to do your part!
Please sign up for Eye on Water so you can get up-to-date information to help you track and manage your water usage. At the present time, only 23% of our customers are enrolled. Please visit https://eyeonwater.beaconama.net/signin and create a new account. It’s free to water customers and offers a wealth of information about your water use.