This summer, Los Angeles hit record breaking high-temperatures leaving the county sweaty and thirsty. California has always struggled with droughts and they become more and more severe each year. With each summer getting hotter and the constant drought issue California faces, several water restrictions have been implemented across the county/state. A lot of these restrictions are causing negative impacts to our farms and the less fortunate.

To save water, restrictions were made for the residents of Claremont and other cities in California. One major requirement is only once per week can sprinklers be used either before 9 am or after 5 pm for eight minutes. For addresses ending with even numbers, can run sprinklers on Mondays and addresses ending with odd numbers, can run sprinklers on Wednesdays. Washing down surfaces like driveways and sidewalks is prohibited at all times. Although restrictions on sprinklers have been made, people can still hand-water. Most residents in Claremont are customers of Golden State Water and it is a requirement to reduce water usage by 20% and any exceeding usage can lead to extra charges. Another method of saving water is being implemented into the California regulations. This method is called greywater and it recycles waste water to then be used for non-potable water uses. Greywater helps decrease usage of fresh, clean water for things that don’t necessarily need it like toilet flushing, laundry, and irrigation systems. The goal is that these restrictions will reduce the unnecessary water usage and conserve the clean water we do have available.

“The amount of water we have available to us right now is not going to be enough to carry us through the entire year unless we do something different,” manager of MWD, a water wholesaler to big agencies, says. Limiting our water usage is very important and will determine the amount of water we will have available for the rest of the year. If the citizens in California don’t start to take action to save water, we will see no end of the drought anytime soon.