San Diegans Say They Have Cut Water Use

SAN DIEGO —  Responding to what they see as a serious water shortage, most San Diegans have reduced their water usage and they prefer voluntary rather than mandatory conservation efforts, the Los Angeles Times Poll shows.

By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, San Diegans say that they are using less water now than a year ago--a savings that comes despite the fact that San Diego is trying a 60-day period of voluntary conservation rather than stringent, mandatory restrictions. In part, that savings reflects San Diegans’ recognition that the city faces a severe water problem, a fact acknowledged by more than two-thirds of those interviewed.

If San Diegans have their druthers, the city’s water-conservation program will remain voluntary when that trial period ends next month. The poll found that city residents oppose mandatory controls by a lopsided 69%-28% margin.

The major ways in which San Diegans are curtailing their water use, the poll shows, include washing their automobiles less, washing clothes and dishes only when they have a full load and watering their lawns in the early morning and evening to reduce evaporation.

“Though people see the situation as serious, they feel that they’re taking appropriate steps and would like to keep compliance voluntary,” said Times pollster I. A. Lewis. “They don’t want to be told what to do when they’re already doing pretty good on their own.”

The Times poll is based on telephone interviews conducted Sunday of 842 people throughout the city of San Diego. The poll’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Underlining the level of public awareness of the water problem, the poll found that San Diegans, by a 68%-20% margin, believe that the city faces a serious water shortage. As a result, most San Diegans have reduced their water usage, with 61% saying that they are using less water now than a year ago, compared to 31% who said that there has been no change in the amount of water they use. Only 5% of the city’s residents said that their current water usage is higher than that of last year.

More than one-third of those polled, in fact, said that they have reduced their water use by more than the 10% voluntary guideline that city officials suggested to preclude the need for mandatory measures.

Though they recognize the seriousness of the city’s water shortage, there is strong opposition to the notion of mandatory controls, as shown by the nearly 2 1/2-to-1 margin by which San Diegans disapprove of being asked to make a mandatory 10% cutback.

Instead, more than two-thirds of San Diegans would prefer to see the continuation of the voluntary conservation program now being used in the city on the 60-day trial basis. That program was approved in May when the City Council, acceding to Mayor Maureen O’Connor objection to mandatory controls, decided to test whether voluntary methods could be effective in reducing water use before considering possible mandatory limits.

Since the voluntary program began June 1, San Diego residents have reduced water consumption by 15.3% compared to a five-year average that has been adjusted to reflect population growth, according to city water officials.

O’Connor, who drew criticism for opposing the mandatory water conservation rules that the city manager’s office had proposed last spring, said Wednesday that the poll’s findings, combined with the water-use figures, bolster her conviction that San Diegans would “react with civic-mindedness” to a call for voluntary cutbacks. The voluntary program, the mayor added, also could save San Diego up to $4.8 million in enforcement costs under a mandatory plan.

“It looks like the mayor was in sync with the public,” O’Connor said. “Sometimes people do more when you ask them than when you order them.”

Asked to identify some of the ways in which they have cut their water use, 66% of San Diegans said that they now wash their cars less. The next most common conservation method was washing only full loads of dishes and clothes (62%), followed by limiting lawn watering to hours before 10 a.m. or after 5 p.m. (56%). Slightly less than half of those polled said that they also have stopped hosing down their driveways and sidewalks and have installed low-flow heads on their showers.

Not surprisingly, individuals’ attitudes toward mandatory conservation measures and their own water use varied according to their perception of the seriousness of the problem. For example, 31% of those who see the water shortage as serious said they would be willing to consider mandatory steps to address it--twice as many as among those who doubt that there is a major shortage.

Younger people also are more favorably inclined toward mandatory restrictions than older ones, perhaps because they tend to be more environmental-minded and need to be more concerned about the city’s long-term water needs. Thirty-six percent of San Diegans under age 40 expressed support for mandatory steps, contrasted with 20% among older people.

LOS ANGELES TIMES POLL

Do you think that the city of San Diego should make water conservation mandatory so that each citizen would be required to cut his water usage by 10%, or should that decision remain voluntary?

Voluntary: 69%

Mandatory: 28%

Don’t know: 3%

Compared to last year, are you personally using more or less water than before, or has there not been much change?

Less: 61%

No change: 31%

More: 5%

Don’t know: 3%

What are some of the ways in which you have reduced water usage? (Up to eight replies accepted from each respondent.)

Wash car less: 66%

Wash clothes and dishes only when have full load: 62%

Water lawn in early morning or evening: 56%

Stop hosing down sidewalks and driveways: 46%

Installed low-flow shower head: 45%

Flush toilet less often: 37%

Put displacement device in toilet tank: 30%

Turn off water when shaving or brushing teeth: 4%

Water lawn less: 3%

Take shorter showers: 3%

Other: 6%

Don’t know: 1%