Trips to the beach are mandatory during summer, but with California still in the grips of a drought, beach-goers in the state will have to do without outdoor showers as water-saving measures are implemented.
Starting July 15, California will be shutting off outdoor showers in state parks and beaches in an effort to conserve water and help stem the severe effects of a drought that has been dragging on for years. The state has already lost billions as its agricultural sector suffered so it's turning to reducing urban water use as well to help it tide the problem over.
"California is facing extremely severe drought conditions. It is important for all Californians to conserve water at home, at work and even when recreating outdoors," said Lisa Mangat, California State Parks Director.
Over 85 million people visit California's state parks every year and they account for the biggest percentage of water use in parks. On average, a visitor staying overnight consumes around 25 gallons of water each day. This number is dramatically less than the 80 to 100 gallons estimated used per day at home but reducing it will still positively affect efforts to conserve water.
With the current plan to shut off outdoor showers, the Parks and Recreation Department is expecting to save over 1.2 gallons of water for every rinse or shower, which will translate to conserving over 18 million gallons of water a year.
The drought was declared an emergency in 2014. In April, California Governor Jerry Brown ordered businesses and residents to cut their water use by 25 percent. The state's Parks and Recreation Department has already met this mandate but are still supporting efforts by individual parks to find more ways to save even more water.
Aside from actively cutting back on water use, state parks are also upgrading and installing low-flow shower heads, toilets and faucets; prioritizing leak detection and repairs; installing portable sanitation and toilet stations; and adding waterless hand sanitizers.
The Parks and Recreation Department understands the importance of removing sand and salt before heading home or getting into cars, suggesting alternatives like toweling or brushing sand away, using portable pressurized showers, or bringing water from home in reusable containers.
Other state departments are participating in the conserving water by foregoing lawn upkeep and turning off fountains in public buildings.
Photo: Lauri Heikkinen | Flickr
