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California Launches Reporting Website to Target Water Wasters

The Department of Technology and California’s Save Our Water public education program partnered to develop and launch the mobile-optimized website SaveWater.ca.gov.

On the heels of Thursday’s announcement that California cut its water use 27.3 percent last month compared to two years ago, now’s there’s a new website where Californians can report water wasters.

The Department of Technology and California’s Save Our Water public education program partnered to develop and launch the mobile-optimized website: SaveWater.ca.gov.

Citizens can select the type of water waste from a dropdown menu; add comments; enter the location, address, date and time; and attach a photo of the alleged waste. The uploaded reports will be sent to local water agencies.

All reporting is anonymous, the website says.

Many local agencies already have mechanisms — forms, phone numbers and Web pages — to report water waste in their boundaries. About 300 water agencies in California have signed up to use the SaveWater.ca.gov tool, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.

“Everyone needs to save water, and this is one effective way alert residents can help everyone — and every community — save water during this historic drought,” State Water Resources Control Board Chair Felicia Marcus said in a July 30 statement. “Every drop saved — and every suspected leak or water waste reported and corrected — will help stretch the state’s limited water supply, because we don’t know if next year will be a fifth year of drought.”

“The beauty of this system is that it sends reports directly to the water suppliers,” Marcus said.

The website was developed in partnership with Save Our Water and the Department of Technology’s Office of the State Geographic Information Officer. The Association of California Water Agencies manages the Save Our Water program in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources.

In April, Gov. Jerry Brown called on California to reduce water consumption by 25 percent.

This story was originally published on TechWire.

Read by opinion leaders, policy makers, the vendor community and government IT workforce, Techwire.net has a well-defined audience focused on the public-sector technology industry in California. Our goal is to gather and publish news and information related to this community, and to document the efforts of those working to modernize California’s digital infrastructure and access to information.