Poll: Residents reducing outdoor irrigation

Reducing outdoor irrigation as at the top of the list when it comes to conserving water.|

Reducing outdoor irrigation as at the top of the list when it comes to conserving water. Nearly 50 percent of those responding to an Argus-Courier online poll said they plan to cut back on watering landscaping. Thirteen percent said they won’t be washing their vehicle and 8 percent will be taking shorter showers. Thirteen percent also said they will look for other ways to conserve water.

Here are some of the comments:

--

“Taking fewer and shorter showers, using a bucket in shower to catch ‘warm-up’ water and using this water outside. Also, I replaced my lawn, participated in the ‘mulch madness’ program and stopped washing cars. And yet, I see houses around town with newly installed sod, sprinklers jetting precious water in the air, even after we have had what rain there has been. I’ve even seen the public median strips at Petaluma Blvd roundabout with sprinklers on in the morning, water running down the street. Everyone has to do their part, please conserve.

--

“I bathe only twice a week now. I use paper plates and cups, plastic utensils to cut down on washing dishes. My laundry is done every other week which works as I am often wearing my clothes at least two days in a row.”

--

“I only flush every third time when doing No. 1, a little splash of Clorox helps keep the nosebuds happy. Also when I’m outside I use the bushes for No. 1. If you do this and your neighbors get irritated, switch to your bushes instead.”

--

“I take a bath one a week now!”

--

“Let the lawns die, taking shorter showers, don’t wash the car at home, fewer loads of laundry per week, run dishwasher only once per week.”

--

“Being on a well system that replenishes at a rate of only 2 gallons-per-minute, we have always used as little as possible in order to limit the wear and tear and power needed to run the pump. Nothing new in our world. I suspect that in the near future some kind on meter will be forced upon us in order to force us to comply with an unneeded mandate. You try to save money and resources and get kicked in the face for your effort. No good deed goes unpunished as they say.”

--

“I’m conserving on everything just like I always have. Only thing is I’m now suppose to cut back 25 percent and I’m already at minimum! What do the people do that aren’t and never have been wasters? Answer that one for us. I’ll be getting penalized for having been conserving before it was the thing to do.”

--

“Petaluma has less water available to it now than we used 10 years ago. Numbers don’t lie. I have been conserving water since the last drought here. And I am not going any further until the Petaluma City Council enacts a building moratorium. We need to take care of what we have first instead of sacrificing quality of life any more than the city council already has.”

--

“Five years ago we installed a 3,500 gallon rain water harvesting system to use for irrigation and removed all of our lawns.”?--

“Actually, several of the above. Also re-using the ‘gray water.’ Flush less for number one. There are many ways to cut back. We are a society of great waste.”

--

“All of the above, plus buckets in sinks and showers to capture water for watering the garden or flushing the toilet.”

--

“All of the above, and washing less clothes.”

--

“I have already reduced our water usage by 50 percent from 2013. What are the rest of you doing? Still watering a lawn?”

--

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.