INDICATOR

 STATUS

Sustainable water consumption means using water no more quickly than the rate at which it is restored. As a city, Santa Monica could be completely sustainable if it were able to supply all of its water needs from local well sources indefinitely. Reducing water consumption per capita and increasing the percentage of water that comes from local sources are two important steps toward sustainability.

In order to measure progress towards the stated goals, this indicator looks at total citywide water use, the percent of water that is local versus the percent imported from distant watersheds in California and the Western United States. Finally, it examines the amount of water that is potable versus non-potable.

The target for consumption is to reduce overall water use by 20% of 2000 levels by 2010. In 2000, water use was 13.4 million gallons per day (MGD); a twenty percent reduction of that usage is 10.7 MGD.  The city aims to increase the amount of locally obtained potable water to its 1995 high point of 70% of total water use by the year 2010. The city is also working to maximize non-potable water use when appropriate.

Citywide Water Consumption
This year the city saw a year-over-year drop in its water usage for EVERY MONTH in the year.  From 2006 to 2007, city water usage dropped 13.8 to 13.0 million gallons per day (MGD).   That represents a water usage drop of 6%.

Meeting the Indicator goal to reduce overall water use by to 20% of the 2000 baseline (to 10.5 MGD) by 2010 continues to be a challenge, given continued development and increasing daytime population.  Still this consistent drop during all seasons of the year shows that the city’s water conservation efforts are paying off. 

Local vs. Imported Water
The percentage of local vs. imported water rose between 2006 and 2007 from 12% to 13% of total water supply.  It is expected that this level will remain steady until the remediation of the city’s wells takes place over the next few years.  See Analysis below. 

Potable Water Use
Santa Monica Urban Runoff & Recycling Facility (SMURRF) produces non-potable water for use in landscape irrigation, at city parks and cemeteries, toilet flushing and in some city fountains. Sales of recycled water from the SMURRF remained relatively steady at 33 million gallons for all of 2007, nearly 1% of water use. For residents and businesses to take further advantage of this reclaimed water requires more infrastructure than is currently in place.   

● The average American uses 168 gallons of water per day.  The average person in Santa Monica uses 144 gallons of water per day.
● The City of Santa Monica operates its own water utility.  Of the 13.0 million gallons used per day, approximately 28% is consumed by single-family units, 44% by multi-family units, and 28% by commercial users.

Citywide Water Use
The city is taking a leadership role in encouraging innovative strategies to meet its 20% consumption reduction goal, especially in outdoor water use.

This year, the city offered landscape grants for Native Landscaping projects.  The city continues to support the residential water efficiency programs the "20 Gallon Challenge", which encourages individuals to save 20 gallons of water each day by implementing water saving strategies for both indoor and outdoor water use. The other ongoing programs are the Free Home Water Assessments, Water Efficient Clothes Washer Rebate Program, the High Efficiency Toilet Rebate Program, and the Gardens & Landscaping Programs.

Local vs. Imported Water
In 1995, Santa Monica’s local groundwater wells most of the water used in the city.  I dropped precipitously with the discovery in 1996 of the fuel additive, MTBE, in our Charnock well field, the result of leaking underground storage tanks.  As a result, the local water supply dropped from 70% in 1996, to a low of 5% in 2004. An agreement with the responsible oil companies to provide for the rehabilitation was reached in 2003. The relatively low level of local water supply we see now is not surprising, given that measures to rehabilitate the affected wells have not yet been implemented. 

Plans for the design of new treatment facilities to restore the Charnock well field are well underway. Great progress has been made in the last year, including selection of an engineering firm to design the needed treatment upgrades at the Charnock field as well as improvements that will be needed at the City’s main water treatment plant in West Los Angeles. City staff is working with the selected engineering firm on the design of the upgrades. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2009 and is expected to take about a year.