What's Next For Cities And Counties After Mandatory Water Conservation Order

Cities and counties in California are considering what steps to take in response to  Governor Jerry Brown's mandatory water conservation order.

The City of Sacramento plans to increase its leak-detection program and could propose charging for water using tiered rates -like utility companies charge for power.

Bill Busath is with the City of Sacramento. He says the Department of Utililties expects to make other changes.

"We have some further enforcement that we could do on evenings and weekends that we already had given some consideration to and now we'll move forward more rapidly on that. Increased outreach -maybe focused outreach on non-residential including schools and commercial."

The City of Roseville is already on track to use 20-percent less water compared to 2013. Lisa Brown is with Roseville's Environmental Utilities Department. She says the city has tripled the money it's spending on its "Cash for Turf" lawn-replacement program.

"They're replaced with water-efficient landscaping materials," says Brown. "So, there is still irrigation on site. It's just done through a  drip-irrigation system and the earth is covered with a two-to-three-inch layer of mulch so that moisture level in the soil."

Cities and counties say they must wait for the state water board to develop enforcement guidelines for the new mandatory reduction order.

The order includes a requirement that new homes have drip-irrigation systems and increases the level of conservation to 25-percent compared to 2013 levels.