GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

for more than a decade, and the river ba- sin’s aquifers have been declining too. When California faced a major drought

in the late 1970s, fewer than 20 million people lived in the state. Now, nearly 40 million live here. While Californians have drastically improved the efficiency of their water use in recent years, if rain and snow do not arrive later this year, the supply of groundwater — much of which is non- renewable — will continue to decline as it is used to make up for surface shortages. Once California’s aquifers are depleted,

the state will have no backup supplies to surface water.

Governor Sets Strict Guidelines The Governor’s Executive Order only

applies to potable water use. Areas irri- gated with non-potable recycled water will not be affected. The 25 percent conservation require-

ment will be met primarily through stan- dards imposed on water suppliers and in- dividual users. The prohibitions that apply to everyone

include: Using potable water to wash sidewalks and driveways;

Allowing runoff when irrigating with potable water;

Using hoses with no shutoff nozzles to wash cars;

Using potable water in decorative water features that do not recirculate the water;

Irrigating outdoors during and within 48 hours after measureable rainfall;

Irrigation with potable water of orna- mental turf on public street medians;

Irrigation with potable water out- side of newly constructed homes and buildings that is not delivered by drip or microspray systems; and

Restaurants serving water to their customers requests it.

unless the customer

Impact on Construction There are no specific percentage reduc-

tions assigned to any sector of a water sup- plier’s service area. Under the Proposed Emergency Regu-

lation, each affected water supplier will be required to reduce its total potable water production by

a www.AGC-CA.org specified percentage. Associated General Contractors of California 7

Water suppliers will locally determine the actions that they will take to ensure that their commercial, industrial, and institu- tional sectors are contributing to meeting these requirements, and in what amounts. For many commercial, industrial, and institutional water users, the majority of their water savings would be achieved through a reduction in outdoor water use and improved efficiency. With the limitation on the duration of

the emergency regulation to 270 days, water suppliers should account for increased water use due to future building activity in their identification and implementation of conservation actions to achieve the con- servation standard for their service area. For example, some agencies have looked at using an offset system, where new build- ings retrofit older buildings to achieve water savings equal to or greater than the use they propose to add.