Use It Wisely

 TRT’s Use It Wisely campaign promotes water conservation and alternative water supplies (such as recycled water) in order to reduce reliance on the Tuolumne so that more water can be left in the River.

TRT achieved a major victory in 2008 when we convinced the SFPUC to drop their plan to divert an additional 25 million gallons of water per day from the Tuolumne. To avoid legal challenges to their $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) – 80 major infrastructure projects aimed at improving seismic reliability – the SFPUC agreed to cap water sales until at least 2018, and to make up any shortfall through conservation and alternative supplies.

Following adoption of the WSIP, TRT worked closely with the SFPUC and BAWSCA to promote water conservation and efficiency. We provided the “why” (to help protect and restore the “Wild and Scenic” Tuolumne River), and they provided the “how” (rebates for high-efficiency appliances and lawn conversions, for example). We launched the “Silicon Valley Water Conservation Awards” and “That’s the Tuolumne in My Tap” (our award-winning youth education program). As partners, we were tremendously successful. Actual water demand in 2018 was 31% lower than the 2008 demand projections.

Unfortunately, the water we’ve conserved has provided little environmental benefit. This is because the SFPUC has hoarded it behind dams for future growth, or in case we enter a mega-drought unlike any that have occurred in the past 1,100 years (based on tree ring data). This is why TRT’s Let It Flow campaign is so important. Without iron-clad requirements, the water agencies can’t be counted on to do what’s right for the River.