California public power utility Truckee Donner Public Utility District is launching a community-wide water conservation campaign to help residents and businesses understand and prepare for the state’s “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” regulation, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
The campaign kicks off with a free public garden party, educational materials, a garden photo contest and new rebates designed to make conservation accessible and actionable for Truckee households, it said on July 30.
“This regulation comes from the state, but how we respond to it is very much a local effort,” said Brian Wright, TDPUD general manager. “Our water supply remains strong; what’s changed is that California now requires most water agencies to meet specific conservation targets. We’re here to help our community understand what that means and how we can work together to comply.”
The “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” regulation requires TDPUD to meet a community-wide water usage reduction target.
"The good news is that compliance is measured as a community total — not household by household — meaning there is no individual monitoring and no individual fines," TDPUD noted. "If the Truckee community meets the target together, everyone benefits. However, failure to meet the goal may result in financial penalties for TDPUD, which could translate to water rate increases in the future."
TDPUD customers will need to determine how they can reduce both their indoor and outdoor water usage. California’s indoor use target is 47 gallons per person per day. TDPUD’s website has information on how much water various household appliances and activities use, as well as tips for how to conserve and rebates to encourage these actions.
Big reductions in outdoor irrigation will also need to happen in order to achieve the target, TDPUD noted.
TDPUD is offering rebates to customers who replace water-guzzling lawns with native and drought-tolerant lawns and other landscaping and hardscaping. TDPUD is also doing its part by fixing pipeline leaks and installing monitoring technologies to reduce water loss in its water distribution system.
“We’re all in this together,” said Steven Keates, TDPUD utility resource strategies manager. “Outdoor irrigation provides the biggest opportunity to reduce water usage— and we have resources, rebate programs and community partners ready to help people make those changes and still have beautiful landscaping.”
To help kick off the campaign, TDPUD is hosting a free community garden party on Aug. 29.
The open-house event will feature educational talks from TDPUD staff, drought-tolerant landscaping demonstrations, and information on rebate programs available to customers. Local stewardship partners and landscaping and nursery businesses will also be on hand to share their expertise. Light refreshments will be provided.
Along with the outdoor irrigation rebate, TDPUD also offers a number of indoor water efficiency rebates, including rebates for efficient toilets and clothes washing machines, smart water monitors and water leak repairs.
TDPUD will also be launching a photo contest for customers to show off their water-wise gardens for a chance to win a $150 water bill credit. The winners will be announced at the garden party on Aug. 29. More information about the contest will be posted on tdpud.org/savewater and on our social channels when it launches.
The campaign also features a newly-released brochure and video covering the four pillars of the conservation effort: the state mandate, indoor water use, outdoor conservation strategies and TDPUD’s own infrastructure investments. These informational resources are available at tdpud.org/savewater.
“When our community uses less water, we use less energy to deliver it,” said Wright. “That’s good for everyone’s bills and good for the environment.”
