Water conservation has to be a way of life.

The position of  Manteca Mayor Gary Singh is shared by water experts — whether they represent agricultural, urban or environmental interests — up and down the state.

And while he plans on asking for the Manteca City Council to relax the rules on outdoor watering to allow it to take place three days a week instead of two as in neighboring Ripon and Lathrop, Singh made it clear Manteca needs to continue on a path that reduces per capita water use.

“We’ve got to reduce outdoor water use as we have indoor water use,” Singh said.

Data shows that roughly half of the urban water use in the Northern San Joaquín Valley goes for outside residential uses. Of that half, the bulk goes to water ornamental grass.

If the council does allow three-day-a-week outdoor water use until supplies tighten up again, Singh doesn’t want to see other municipal water conservation measures eased that have been in place in Manteca since the start of the 2015 drought and further refined in the drought that just ended.

The mayor noted it is reckless to believe it is OK to not to use water wisely just because the past winter saw above average precipitation due to 14 atmospheric rivers slamming California.

Backing up his point are:

*A well-established trend over the past 700 years that reflects extended dry periods of drought interrupted by a year or two of above average precipitation — is the natural norm.

*The fact since 1976 California has gone through six extended periods of drought.

*Underground water tables have been on a downward trend since the 1910s in the Central Valley.

*A looming state mandate that means regions above distinct aquifers will no longer be able to take out more water from the ground than they return in a given year.

“Just because you buy a bunch of food you can end up throwing out because you’re rich doesn’t make it right,” Singh said in drawing an analogy.

Singh doesn’t believe just because someone has a large estate and can afford to water an acre or so of non-native water guzzling grass that it is OK for them to do so.

The mayor noted that water is an essential resource that is available in a finite amount that is subject to a wide array of natural conditions such as weather and fish needs as well as how man uses it.

Singh noted the city plans to continue:

*employing education and enforcement via a city “water cop” that is assigned to combat commercial and residential water misuse as well as compliance with effective lawn irrigation techniques that take into account the best times to water due to minimize evaporation.

*offering rebates for switching out high water use grass with more water wise landscaping for residential and commercial properties.

*working toward further reducing high water use landscaping in new development.

*developing — and eventually implementing — a program that uses recycled wastewater to irrigate municipal parks and public landscaping areas where feasible.

Manteca’s per capita water use

has declined over 10 years

In May, Manteca used 449 million gallons of water.

That’s about a million more gallons than in May 2022 despite the city growing by almost 1,800 residents. The somewhat mild weather helped keep outside watering down that is the biggest single water use category in Manteca.

Manteca’s per capital trend of water use has been on a downward trend for over a decade.

Back in May of 2013, Manteca used 534 million gallons when the city had 71,000 residents. That translates into 242 gallons of water use daily per capita.

The per capita water use last month in Manteca was at 161 gallons per capita based on 90,000 residents.

The city’s dual system of surface and well water  allowed just under 60 percent of the city’s water use in May to be satisfied by surface water from the South San Joaquin Irrigation District’s rights to Stanislaus River basin water.

As such, the city is exceeding its target of a 50-50 split between surface and ground water use,

 That means Manteca is taking some pressure off underground sources in a bid to allow water levels to bounce back up.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com