“Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink, Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink” Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The City of Pasadena will hold a meeting next Monday, September 22, to discuss how to deal with water wasters. If you recall, the City implemented several voluntary measures last December which fell on deaf ears. Was it deaf ears or did the message just fail to reach the intended audience, the residents of Pasadena. My guess is that the intended message fell short. A shotgun blast was needed to announce the initiative and inform the masses. Instead it was a well kept secret.

Pasadena residents are usually ready to embrace a cause they understand. Just take a look at all of the blue recycling bins in the street throughout the week. Citizens would be ready to answer the call and conserve water, if and only if they would receive the call. For the city to render fines on water usage that doesn’t meet the new guidelines will only serve to punish those who are caught doing what everyone else is getting away with.

People today are inundated or rather bombarded with advertising and impressions that create an immediate awareness, but is quickly forgotten. To create a lasting impression the message needs to be reiterated time after time. After all, repetition is the key to learning. I seriously doubt that the City of Pasadena has the budget to promote these new regulations so that enough people will be informed, wrapping their arms around and support the cause.

A Better Solution for Pasadena

Pasadena promotes itself as a green and sustainable city and has done an excellent job with new development and commercial buildings. However, it’s time Pasadena real estate interpreted as residential housing, was asked to contribute and shoulder some of the burden. We need to move away from this short term “punishment” with monetary fines for water abusers and begin thinking about what we can do to have the greatest long term impact on water conservation.

The Pasadena City Council Should consider the following:

1. Low Flow Toilets – there are approximately 52,000 housing units according to the city’s website as of the year 2000. The charm and character we enjoy in our neighborhoods also denote obsolescence as 30% of the housing units were built prior to 1939. Translation: water thirsty plumbing fixtures. Depending on the age of the toilet it may use anywhere from 3.5 gallons per flush to as much as 7 gallons per flush. Compare this to a low flow and only 1.6 gallons.
2. Low Flow Shower Heads – can save up to 2 to 4 gallons of water in the shower every minute.

The good thing about these changes is implementation would be very easy to incorporate into the Pasadena City Occupancy report. The new retrofits would take place with the sale or transfer of a property. A rebate program could also be established to provide incentives for property owners installing water saving units just like we have for energy saving appliances.

1. Incentives for Xeriscape Landscaping – realize that we live in a very arid climate and a lush green lawn will not co-exist with the looming water issues we face. We should be looking at providing incentives for property owners to decorate their homes with drought tolerant plants.

Fines will only address over usage and do nothing for conservation. Incentives for preservation will go further and produce better results than punishment for consumption.

Tags: Cities facing water crisis, City of Pasadena to discuss water issues, solutions to Pasadena's water problems