Water is Precious
Little of it is available to drink of the Earth's water supply:
Salt water
Fresh Water
Groundwater
Lakes and Streams
Glaciers and Ice Caps
Water Vapor |
97.2 %
2.8 %
0.6 %
0.01%
2.1 %
0.001 % |
Why Be Efficient?
- Water is a precious resource that should not be wasted
- Having enough water is critical to our local and state economy
- Our water use impacts the environment around us, including the health of our Sacramento and American rivers and our local creeks
- Using water efficiently helps ensure water is available for future generations
Why Conserve Water?
Here are a few good reasons.
Our water supply is precious.
- Only 2 percent of the world's water is available as fresh water. The Earth's total water supply is the same today as it was thousands of years ago.
- We live in a semi-arid climate. Our average rainfall is only 17 inches per year, which is less than half of what is received in the Midwest and East Coast. Additionally, we go without beneficial rain for four to five months every year.
- About half of our region is served by underground water aquifers. Past practices have overdrawn some aquifers while others have been tainted by groundwater pollution.
We need to protect and stretch our existing water supplies and develop new water supplies for future population and economic growth.
- Population in the Sacramento region is expected to grow from 1.6 million people to 2.5 million people by 2025.*
- To meet the region's growing water needs, regional stakeholders negotiated the Water Forum Agreement. The Water Forum Agreement requires:
- New facilities to provide combined use of our surface water and groundwater resources, and
- Positive actions to sustain the lower America River values of recreation, wildlife and fisheries, especially during droughts.
- Improved water efficiency is an important element to meet these goals.
Wasting water costs money.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency protects and regulates the purity of drinking water by setting increasingly stringent standards, which are increasingly more expensive.
- Developing new water supplies and building new treatment facilities is expensive.
- Working together, the public and water purveyors can help control these costs by managing the demand on this resource.
- Purifying and pumping water to your home uses energy. Save water, save energy, save money.
Your efforts to improve water efficiency will:
- Save energy in your home and in the community.
- Result in healthier, better-looking landscapes.
- Reduce pollution in our streams by stopping wasteful runoff from our landscapes to storm drains.
- Provide water for our growing population and economy.
- Provide flows in the lower American River for recreation and fisheries.
- Provide safe drinking water for our children and grandchildren.
* Data Source: Sacramento Council of Governments for Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo Counties, years 1999 to 2025.
