First published in the March 19 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
The California Natural Resources Agency is now warning of dire consequences of our endless drought and the importance of residential water conservation. Unfortunately, Burbank’s water utility — Burbank Water and Power — has not confronted the issue of the water wasted by the unnecessary use of lawn sprinklers at houses and apartment buildings.
Several months ago, BWP adopted a Saturday-only sprinkler use policy, but it was never effectively communicated to residents by BWP. Instead, their announcement of the policy was buried in a flier that accompanied the monthly bills. The result is that the uncontrolled use of residential sprinklers continues, sometimes on a daily basis. To my knowledge, there is no enforcement of the sprinkler use schedule. The flagrant overuse of lawn sprinklers is ignored by BWP.
BWP’s minimal water conservation efforts are a failure and it needs to show that water shortage is a critical issue that needs to be taken seriously by all residents, including the water wasters.
Thomas Saito
Burbank
