Water woes met with conservation regulations

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-The State Water Resources Board voted unanimously this week to ban watering lawns that serve no essential purpose. The board calls it nonfunctional turf. The ban impacts commercial, industrial and institutional sectors.

The board is also ordering local water agencies to implement water use restrictions by limiting water use in all kinds of ways such as limiting lawn watering to certain days and lowering sprinkler volumes.

Board members believe California water supplies may be 20 percent lower than usual due to drought conditions and extreme weather.

Food and Water Watch media relations officer Jessica Gable said the regulations come as no surprise.

"I think clearly voluntary water restrictions are no longer enough," said Gable, "We are in a drought crisis, we are in a climate crisis and we need to start acting like it. We need to begin mandatory water restrictions in urban areas and start cracking down on corporate water abuse."

Santa Barbara High School Senior Abigail Marin said she learned to conserve water at the urging of her mother.

The Cal Lutheran-bound student said she keeps her showers short by showering to Metallica songs that aren't very long. Marin said her father shared their music with her.

She also likes to shower to K-Pop and Christian songs as long as they are around 3 minutes long.

A local teacher said he replaced grass with plants that don't need as much water.

He said the City of Santa Barbara's Water Wise Landscaping program helped him save water and money by showing him where to put drought tolerant plants.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said "California is facing a drought crisis and every local water agency and Californian needs to step up on conservation efforts."

Newsom said saving water will be even more important during the summer months.

For more information visit drought.ca.gov, www.saveourwater.com and www.foodandwaterwatch.org