OAKLAND — Aaron Reaven of North Oakland is worried current drought conditions are California’s “new norm.”

He wants to know how water agencies are planning for the possibility of more dry years to come.

Reaven was among nearly 20 residents who attended a special town hall meeting Saturday on water, drought, and conservation at the North Oakland Senior Center.

Other residents, like Rebekah Right, came to learn how she can save even more water inside and outside her Oakland home.

Numerous agencies and community groups passed out information on how to eliminate lawns and use drought-tolerant plants, reduce faucet flow and survey for leaks, a major source of water waste.

Organized by District 1 Councilman Dan Kalb, the event also featured Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and East Bay Municipal Utility District directors Marguerite Young and Andy Katz.

Kalb said people need to be prepared, particularly if the drought continues. He is hoping they will begin working with their neighbors and others on their blocks to achieve even greater water savings.

Certainly, today’s drought numbers aren’t very encouraging, officials said.

“This is the driest, most serious drought in the history of the populous East Bay,” Katz said.

With water storage and Sierra snowpack at record lows, EBMUD declared a Stage 4 critical drought and set goals for customers to reduce water use by 20 percent over 2013 levels.

Richard Harris, EBMUD manager of water conservation, said the agency has a team to investigate water waste, and is also coming up with innovative ways and incentives for residents and businesses to save water.

Meanwhile, Katz and Young encouraged people to make water conservation a permanent part of their lives.

Katz said the agency has not yet “seriously begun” to plan what would need to be done to get through more dry years. He said it could include stiffer penalties for excessive water use and sharper cutbacks.

“Currently, we are in good shape for three to four years, given good conservation and planning,” Katz said. “We don’t want to run out of water so we need to be proactive.”

In a similar vein, the district is also looking into more aggressive replacement of old pipes and also ways to use more recycled water, Harris said.

A major EBMUD focus is to reduce outdoor irrigation, Young said.

For many people, that has meant letting their lawns go brown and replacing them with drought-tolerant plants.

StopWaste contractor Trevor Probert said eliminating lawns through sheet mulching is an easy and inexpensive way to save water. He said there’s been a “huge surge” in people wanting to learn how to replace their lawns.

One square foot of typical grassy lawn uses 55 gallons per year, he said.

Replacing lawns is one way East Bay residents have embraced water conservation.

The East Bay region saw a 31 percent reduction in water use in May and June, well above expected levels, Harris said.

However, the extremely dry months ahead are worrisome, Harris said. Those are times when people may be tempted to increase outdoor watering, he added.

Several EBMUD officials also said agency customers “east of the hills” in such affluent cities as Orinda, Lafayette, Danville and Walnut Creek are typically using more water than customers in the western areas.

Katz said he’s confident East Bay residents will continue to save water and make water conservation a source of pride

“Conservation is easy and we can learn to make the best use of our resources,” Katz said.

FYI

The EBMUD website contains information on how to save water, determine how many gallons a household is using, and how to detect leaks and other items.

To learn more, go to: https://www.ebmud.com/.