Lawn
Water your lawn only when necessary. If you step on your grass and it springs back, it doesn't need water. Adjust your sprinklers accordingly.

Driveway
Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your sidewalk or driveway.

Sidewalk
Adjust your sprinklers so they water your plants and not the sidewalk or driveway.

Groundcover
Many shrubs, trees and groundcovers utilize less water than grass. Landscaping with native, drought-resistant plants can save lots of water.

Washing Your Car
Wash your car with a bucket and a hose equipped with a shut-off nozzle or at a commercial carwash that uses recycled water.

Sprinklers
Utilize a drip irrigation system when possible and try to group plants together that require the same amount of water. Adjust your automatic sprinklers according to the season, and have them go off more frequently in the spring and summer, and less frequently in the fall and winter.

As residents of Southern California, it is important to remember that we live in a semi-arid area that receives unpredictable amounts of rainfall and has limited local water resources. Therefore, we must all work together to conserve as much water as possible, to ensure adequate supplies during those hot summer months in the years to come.

It’s a simple equation: if we use less water, our existing supplies will go further. That’s why conservation has become a significant component of SMWD’s water supply planning strategy. Over the years, SMWD customers have been able to save thousands of acre-feet of water through rebate programs, plumbing retrofits and improved awareness of the need to use our water resources more efficiently. And those savings not only help the District, they help you too. That’s because the less water you use in and around your home, the lower your monthly water bills will be.

Click on the images below for indoor conservation tips, for information on how to reduce urban runoff or to return to the conservation page.