Summer Showers Water Conservation Campaign Coming to a City Hall Near You

Contact: Julia Stanford, jstanford@northplainsgcd.org or 806-930-6934

North Plains Groundwater Conservation District (NPGCD) is challenging its residents to take advantage of Operation: Summer Showers. Operation: Summer Showers is a program that stresses the importance of saving water at home by providing free water-saving survival kits during the hottest, peak water-use period of the year.

With support from area cities and local media, NPGCD has supplied these water conservation tools to the North Plains for the last five years.

The District continues to host Operation: Summer Showers because of the opportunity to partner with the communities. “This is a great way to extend our reach with these conservation messages. We are all water users, so we need to all be water savers. Partnering with the cities and local media allows us to reach more people with ideas of personal responsibility and conservation, and to put legitimate tools in their hands to make it happen.” said Kirk Welch, Assistant General Manager – Public Outreach at NPGCD.

The Operation: Summer Showers kits include a water bottle, low-flow showerhead, rain/sprinkler gauge, faucet drip gauge, and leak detector tablets. These kits are available at the District’s office at 603 E 1^st Street in Dumas, or at City Hall in Booker, Spearman, Stinnett, Stratford, Dumas, Dalhart, and Perryton.

Contents of Summer Showers water conservation kit

“Summer showers gives residents an opportunity to upgrade outdated showerheads, to conserve water in their homes, and potentially save on their water bill, too. They can be water efficient by checking for potential leaks in their toilets and more efficiently using their sprinkler systems with the rain/sprinkler gauge.” said Welch.  

While taking advantage of the Operation: Summer Showers kits, check out these tips for conserving water outside the house.

1. Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks
2. If you must irrigate, water your lawn when it is cooler – early in the morning or late in the evening- to reduce water loss from evaporation.
3. Water when there is as little wind as possible to keep the water on your lawn.
4. Make sure you don’t over-water. Lawns rarely need more than one inch of water per week.
5. Water when your lawn needs it, not on a timer. Use a rain gauge or tuna can to know when you’ve applied no more than one inch of water per week.
6. Allow grass to dry between watering to promote deeper root growth.
7. Keep your lawn around 2 ½ – 3 inches tall. Taller grass shades the soil, reducing evaporation.
8. Don’t bag your clippings. Use a mulching blade to save you time. The clippings create a natural mulch to hold moisture.

Wanting to know how you can conserve water inside your home daily? Here’s a few helpful hints.

1. When brushing your teeth, turn off the faucet.
2. If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the showerhead.
3. Toilet leaks can be silent! Be sure to test your toilet for leaks at least once a year.
4. Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.
5. At home or while staying in a hotel, reuse your towels.
6. Plug the sink instead of running the water to rinse your razor and save up to 300 gallons a month.
7. Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.
8. Washing dark clothes in cold water saves water and energy, and helps your clothes retain their color.
9. Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water

More water-saving tips can be found at http://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/. Finally, make sure you are in compliance with any water restrictions in your area.