Gimmicks and technology: California learns to save water

(AP) — Billboards and TV commercials, living room visits, guess-your-water-use booths, and awards for water stinginess — a wealthy swath of Orange County that once had one of the worst records for water conservation in drought-stricken California is turning things around, proving it's possible to get people to change their ways.

The agency achieved it by, among other things, holding small meetings in people's homes, knocking on 2,000 doors, plastering the city with save-water billboards, conspicuously honoring its most frugal citizens, and rushing to get an innovative runoff recycling system up and running earlier than planned.

The agency also offers rebates for ripping up grass and installing low-flow toilets, more efficient washing machines and drip irrigation systems, and it has put aside $30 million for capital improvements with the goal of increasing the use of recycled water to 30 percent from 17 percent.

With California gripped by one of the most punishing droughts on record — a dry spell going on four years — state officials have ordered a 25 percent overall cut in urban consumption of drinkable water and have set different targets for cities and water agencies.

On Wednesday, state officials proudly reported that California cities and water districts overall cut consumption 29 percent in May, the highest yet recorded during the drought.

The reservoir collects runoff from a major housing development that had been irrigating with drinking water, filters the water through a series of four pools and then pumps it back uphill to the gated community.