South Bay water agency cracks down on water usage as drought intensifies

Immediate water usage cuts for South Bay residents

KTVU's Ann Rubin reports.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - California's drought has brought new water usage cuts to the South Bay.

Residents in San Jose, Campbell, Saratoga, and Los Gatos can expect some immediate changes in light of current drought conditions. The San Jose Water Company, which serves those areas, is implementing new rules for their customers that take effect now.

"We're taking this very seriously. We consider this to be an extreme drought. We are asking our customers to cut their use by 15%," said Liann Walborsky, director of communications for the water agency.

Nearly all the rules focus on outdoor use. The first is to only water lawns and plants twice a week, for 15 minutes at a time and not between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Residents are assigned specific days for outdoor water use. Those who live at a home with an odd-numbered address take Mondays and Thursdays. Residents who have an even-numbered address have Tuesdays and Fridays.

"50-percent of water use is outside use. And that's an area where we can all conserve and cut down," said Walborsky.

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There are also limits on filling fountains and ponds. There are also bans on washing cars at home. Residents are now only supposed to use commercial car washes that use recycled or recirculating water.

"We have to really be proactive about this. We cannot control the weather but we can control our own actions," Walborsky said.

At Antonio Alcaraz Gardening and Landscaping, they're already helping their clients cut back on water usage.

"We talk to our clients and we tell them, 'Hey this is going on,' because sometimes they don't know what's going on. So when we tell them they're shocked," said Noah Alcaraz.

They're changing the settings on irrigation timers when necessary. And they say something else has changed too.

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"We've been getting a lot of calls from clients that want us to go and take out their grass and put in rock or mulch or something that doesn't waste as much water," Alcaraz said.

San Jose Water says it has no way to enforce these rules. However, if reduction goals aren't met by the end of August, the agency may consider implementing some sort of surcharge or penalty.