Conservation: The Prevention of Wasteful Use of a Resource

By: Jeff Flairty, TKPOA Water Conservation Ad Hoc Committee Chair

It’s been quite a year for the Tahoe Keys and its water department. The discovery of naturally-occurring uranium in our source groundwater aquifer required shutting down two of the three water supply wells for the Tahoe Keys community. This action, in turn, required the implementation of emergency water use rules prohibiting lawn irrigation during the 2021 summer season.

Some of you may ask why we just don’t build sufficient capacity back into our water system so we can have the freedom to replant our yards and continue irrigating the way we always have in the past. There are several reasons why that option is no longer viable:

To build back the water department capacity to pre-2021 levels would require an investment of an estimated $5 million in infrastructure alone, not accounting for the associated annual staffing and energy cost increases.

California is in the midst of a historic drought, suffering the driest period in 1,200 years. While we experienced a record snowfall in December, the current snowpack is less than half of that expected for an average year. Recent articles describe the unprecedented water shortage emergency measures being implemented this summer in Southern California with outdoor water usage restricted to just one day a week. State and local restrictions on outdoor water use are a reality.

The Tahoe Keys Water Company is currently hard at work operating our water supply and distribution system for the 2022 season in a reduced capacity due to treatment limitations placed on Well #2 and Well #3 to address the recent uranium issue, as well as the existing PCE impacts at Well #2. The new reality we face as the Tahoe Keys community is that water is no longer the unlimited resource we always assumed it to be.

The Board recognized this and has initiated a number of steps to encourage water conservation, increase available water supplies, save energy, and save money. This collaborative effort between the Tahoe Keys Board, the Tahoe Keys Water Company (TKWC), the Architectural Control Committee (ACC), the Water Conservation Committee (WCC), and outside stakeholders such as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the City of South Lake Tahoe, South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD), and Lukins Brothers Water Company (LBWC) has resulted in a number of exciting water conservation initiatives, both existing and proposed.

Several examples of water conservation efforts are as follows: The Board has updated the TKPOA Emergency Operating Rules for water conservation to limit frequency and duration of landscape irrigation for all TKPOA Water Services properties and commercial customers. Following the proposed irrigation schedule allows the water company to supply irrigation water during the night, when indoor use is low, thereby efficiently using the currently reduced water supply.

The ACC has worked closely with TRPA to publish the Tahoe Keys Landscape Conservation Idea Book highlighting the importance of a low water use landscape for our homes and the TKPOA Common Areas and Townhome landscaped areas. This idea book provides examples and information how we can transform our current turf yards into attractive, low water landscapes that provide defensible spaces for wildfire protection and assist in water quality improvements for Lake Tahoe. This idea book is available on the TKPOA website or at the Association office.

The WCC is hosting a Town Hall Forum with the ACC and TRPA to introduce the Tahoe Keys Landscape Conservation Idea Book to homeowners and answer practical questions on design considerations and implementation.

TKPOA Common Area, while preserving the TKWC water supply. Lake Tahoe Master Gardeners have offered their insight and expertise in producing water conservation gardening plans for individual homeowners.

The Board is working with its engineering consultant to evaluate how to comply with the California Assembly Bill No 2572 requiring the installation of a water meter for every customer connection by January 1st, 2025. There is a proposal being considered in the California Legislature to extend the date to January 1st , 2032. The metering of individual connections will allow the TKWC to bill each customer based on actual usage rather than the current quarterly charge. Studies have shown that installing meters and billing according to usage is the single most effective water conservation measure a water utility can initiate.

The City of South Lake Tahoe recently adopted a Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance establishing development standards that require water efficient landscaping for new and rehabilitated yards.

The Board has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Landscape Architects to prepare a landscaping master plan for the restoration of Association-owned common area and Townhome subdivision landscaping. The Board intends to utilize water conscious and drought resilient landscaping for these common areas.

By several estimates, outdoor water uses in the Keys for lawn irrigation during the summer accounted for up to 80 percent of our available supply. The TKPOA Board and our committees understand the critical need to change our approach to outdoor water use and are working on an exciting series of programs and resources for the homeowners to use when restoring your lawns.

Rather than viewing the difficulties experienced by our community last year with our water system and brown lawns as an obstacle to overcome in returning to “normal”, let’s use this opportunity to create a new Tahoe Keys as a leader in conservation landscapes. It will save us money, reduce irrigation needs, and conserve water, control nutrients entering the lagoon system, improve wildfire defensible spaces, and provide attractive landscapes that reflect each homeowner’s aesthetics.

For questions on the TKPOA Landscape Conservation Idea Book and approvals through the ACC, please contact Architectural Control Department Manager Linda Callahan, lcallahan@tahoekeyspoa.org or (530) 542-6444 ext. 239.