Operation: Summer Showers
Did you participate in Operation: Summer Showers by taking a water conservation kit home? Tell us how your kits have improved your conservation efforts, and if there’s something we can do to improve your water conservation needs by taking our survey below.
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 the 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. “We feel like it’s imperative to work with the cities directly; the cooperative effort is important. All of the District’s stakeholders need to know how to save water at home every day, so we see the value of interacting with residential stakeholders and partnering with the cities to accomplish this.” said Kirk Welch, Assistant General Manager of Public Outreach at NPGCD.
The Operation: Summer Showers kits include a low-flow shower head, rain and sprinkler gauge, faucet drip gauge, and leak detector tablets. These kits are available at the District’s office at 603 E 1st Street in Dumas, or at City Hall in Booker, Spearman, Stinnett, Stratford, Dumas, Dalhart and Perryton.
“Summer showers gives residents an opportunity to upgrade what may be outdated equipment, like shower heads, to conserve water in their homes, and potentially save on their water bill, too.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.
- Don’t water things that don’t grow, like streets and sidewalk
- Water early or late in the day when there is less heat to cause evaporation.
- Water when there is as little wind as possible to keep the water on your lawn.
- Make sure you don’t over-water. Lawns rarely need more than one inch of water per week.
- Use a rain gauge to measure rainfall so you don’t water if it’s unneeded.
- 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.
- Allow grass to dry between watering to promote deeper root growth.
- Keep your lawn around 2 ½ – 3 inches. Taller grass shades the soil, reducing evaporation.
- Don’t bag your clippings. Use a mulching blade to save you time, and 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.
- When washing your hands, turn the water off while you lather.
- If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the shower head.
- Toilet leaks can be silent! Be sure to test your toilet for leaks at least once a year.
- Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.
- At home or while staying in a hotel, reuse your towels.
- Plug the sink instead of running the water to rinse your razor and save up to 300 gallons a month.
- Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.
- Washing dark clothes in cold water saves water and energy, and helps your clothes retain their color.
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 city.
For more information about water conservation practices or Operation: Summer Showers, you may call the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District at 806-935-6401 or email kwelch@northplainsgcd.org. “Like” the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District on Facebook, and “Follow” @NorthPlainsGCD on Twitter and Instagram to learn more water conservation tips.
