In Southern California, the Bureau of Reclamation encourages and facilitates water conservation and efficiency improvements, and assists agencies in meeting their demands for limited water resources.

Through the Water Conservation Field Services Program (WCFSP), the Southern California Area Office actively promotes water conservation, assists districts with developing plans, and supports and complements existing State and local agency conservation programs. Reclamation also offers local agencies technical assistance to promote water conservation planning, or provides textbooks and computer software to help agencies develop plans for water savings.

The program's partnerships with water agencies encourage:

• development of quality water conservation plans;
• progressive outreach and educational programs;
• demonstrations of innovative conservation technologies; and
• implementation of effective efficiency measures.

In one partnership, Reclamation joined over 100 California urban water agencies, environmental organizations, and other public interest groups in establishing the California Urban Water Conservation Council (CUWCC). A Memorandum of Understanding signed by these entities includes 14 specific Best Management Practices, which the signatories have agreed to implement. To help accomplish this effort, Reclamation's Southern California Area Office's WCFSP is specifically designed to provide technical and/or financial assistance to aid water agencies in developing conservation plans, and in implementing Best Management Practices to meet requirements of the California Department of Water Resources California Urban Water Management Planning Act.

The Southern California Area Office has incorporated its water conservation activities with other Reclamation programs to complement, support, and leverage integrated water resource management strategies.

A report -- Coordinating Government Programs and Policies to Advance Water Use Efficiency in California (Dec 2006) -- was published by Reclamation to help identify the many government programs that are available within the state aimed at improving water resource efficiency.

A technical report -- Weather and Soil Moisture Based Landscape Irrigation Scheduling Devices (September 2009) -- is also available to assist water agencies in their efforts to promote landscape irrigation controller technology as a means of conserving water and reducing irrigation runoff-induced pollution. A supplemental document to this report -- Summary of Smart Controller Water Savings Studies (April 2008) -- summarizes the findings of a literature review of publicly available reports and articles for water savings studies that evaluated weather- and soil moisture-based (“smart”) landscape irrigation control devices.

These reports are available on-line at the links above, or hard copies can be requested from the Water Conservation Specialist listed below.

Reclamation is also working with the California Department of Water Resources and the California Urban Water Conservation Council to update an Urban Drought Guidebook. This guidebook offers new information and examples of successful efforts to conserve water resources by suppliers throughout California, and is intended to assist water managers facing the challenge of water shortages by employing tried-and-true methods of the past as well as making use of new tools and methods now available.

Need More Information?

If you have any water resources questions, need technical assistance, or want to learn more about water conservation in Southern California, contact Deb Whitney, Water Conservation Specialist, at dwhitney@usbr.gov or by phone at: (951) 695-5310.