This Months Water Bill

 

Lake Henshaw

I received my water bill in the mail today… oh joy.  My normal routine is the tear the envelope open and extract the bill without bothering anything else that might be inside.  But today I must have been bored because I decided to see what was so important that my local water utility needs to inform me about.

I found a flyer titled “Reflections”.   It’s whole purpose was to inform local residents of the continued drought to our region and offer tips for water conservation.  The flyer had some great info about Lake Henshaw and its water levels.  Apparently Henshaw peaked at only 29% capacity in May for this year.  After visiting the utilities website I found that currently Henshaw is only at 10% capacity.  Also, this lake is the only local source of water for the Vista Irrigation District and it supplies 30% of the water needed in the district.  The other 70% is imported from the Colorado River.  There were lots of other interesting facts and general info.

I have to admit it, the whole time I was reading this article I was thinking about the effects of drought on fishing.  When water levels get low I start worrying about fish populations, water oxygenation and launch ramp conditions.  Henshaw has never been a very popular place for sport fishing but drought affects all the lakes in our area and we should do what we can to keep our lakes healthy.    Maybe there is something I can do?

If I thought rain dancing would help I’d have done it.  That would be easy.  As it turns out, conserving water is mostly inconvenient or costly.  The backside of the flyer offered suggestions such as purchasing newer and more efficient dish and clothes washers and washing vehicles with just one bucket of water and not use a constantly running hose.  There were a few more that didn’t really apply to me but they were good suggestions anyway.  However there were two things listed that I could do right now with little effort.  I could change the number of days my sprinkler system waters per week from 4 to 3.  Also, change the duration of my sprinklers from ten minutes to seven.  I figured what the heck and made the adjustment on my control panel.

So there you have it, I’m now conserving water.  I feel better about myself.  Of course that might change if my lawn turns brown but we’ll see how it goes.  I’d suggest everyone find the website for your local water utility and do some reading.  As fishermen the info provided should be especially relevent and hopefully you will have a better understanding of the water situation in southern California.