According to the World Health Organization, 1 in .3 people around the globe don’t have access to clean and safe water. While we are fortunate to live in a region that safeguards our water, this statistic is a reminder that water is a limited resource, and we rely on extensive infrastructure and technology to maintain our quality of life. Therefore, it is our collective responsibility to be good stewards of what we have and prioritize efficient water usage.
As your water provider, Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) views our role as the community’s partner in water stewardship. We take this responsibility seriously, but we can’t do it alone. The stewardship of water is a shared responsibility that necessitates action at all levels.
To us, stewardship means responsibly managing and protecting our water resources to ensure long-term sustainability and reliability, at the lowest cost. We are dedicated to supporting our customers’ efforts to live water-efficient lives. Together, we can protect and preserve this invaluable resource for future generations.
Due to our collective management thus far, we are in a far better place now following the historic amount of rain and snowfall from last winter. However, clean water cannot be taken for granted, and given the whipsaw weather of California, we cannot rely on a future of consistently wet winters to continue.
Our water travels long distances before reaching our homes and businesses. More than half of our water supplies originate from snowpack and rain hundreds of miles away, traveling through billions of dollars of infrastructure like pipelines, pumps stations and reservoirs before getting to the faucet. Coupled with the amount of energy and human expertise needed to deliver water to our region, we know every drop from our tap has value.
Yet, with all the equipment and human capital needed to maintain a healthy water system, our local water supply is far more efficient and affordable when compared to bottled water. Due to less strict regulations for bottled water manufacturers, tap water is often better quality and significantly less expensive. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, bottled water costs $1.23 per gallon on average, while EVMWD tap water is only $0.007 per gallon – that’s less than a penny for high-quality, readily available water flowing from your tap on demand.
We can continue to deliver affordable drinking water by being intentional about where and how we use our tap water. Adopting practices that prioritize the careful use and conservation of water is a collective effort to foster a community of responsible water stewards now and for generations to come.
To learn more about how to become water efficient, visit www.evmwd.com.conservation.