The city of Glendale achieved significant water savings - over 122 million gallons – since the declaration of Stage 1 Drought Watch of the city’s Drought Management Plan on June 17, 2022. Under Stage 1, the city was required to reduce water use at city properties and operations by 5% when compared to a five-year average. Over the past year, the City has exceeded this goal by reducing water use at city properties and operations by 19% or 122 million gallons.

While above-average precipitation certainly helped reduce outdoor water use, Glendale’s Drought Team played a key role in maximizing indoor and outdoor water efficiency throughout the city. City departments were tasked by the Drought Team to create water use reduction plans tailored to their operations. These plans entailed identifying and repairing water leaks, converting nonfunctional grass to xeriscape, installing water-efficient technology and training.

Here is an overview of water-saving efforts made by various departments within the city. A partnership between Community Services and Water Services distributed water conservation kits and bookmarks at the Glendale Public Libraries. The Water Services Department also had the building maintenance staff visit all 155 units that they serve to make repairs for any leaking fixtures, such as in the kitchen, bathroom and washing machines. The Field Operations team converted nearly two acres of grass to xeriscape at the city landfill, while the Transportation Department installed weather-based irrigation controllers. The Parks & Recreation team consulted with a contractor to obtain costs to convert 10 acres of turf to a low-water-use landscape. They also conducted in-house training for the irrigation team to provide them with education on the department’s irrigation standards, drought management program and implementation of base watering schedules.

While these are just some highlights of various city departments and their accomplishments, there are so many more. In this last year alone, eight different departments across the city have become more water-wise and have totaled 38 different ways to cut down on city water usage. Because as we always say, ‘Glendale cares, about the water we share’.

In the next couple of weeks, the Glendale Communications Department will issue a blog post about Glendale’s water-saving accomplishments under the Stage 1 Drought Watch, which was declared by the City Manager one year ago on June 17, 2022.