If you live in Alameda or Contra Costa counties, EBMUD's voluntary water rationing has now turned mandatory. In an effort to stretch supplies after two dry years in the San Francisco Bay Area, EBMUD will be enforcing some restrictions on water use.

The guidelines aren't entirely fair. Single-family residences need to cut usage by 19 percent (based on an average of the previous three years of water bills). But those who've already maximized their water conservation efforts will have to make the same 19 percent cut as those with spas, pools and acres of lawn who haven't been saving at all. EBMUD says it's discussing options that would make the cuts more fair.

(You can see the EBMUD Press Release here.)

The new drought program also prohibits:

• Using water for decorative ponds, lakes and fountains if the water is not recycled
• Washing vehicles with hoses that don't have shutoff nozzles
• Washing sidewalks, patios and other similar hard surfaces
• Irrigating outdoors on consecutive days or more than three days a week
• Lawn or garden watering that results in excessive runoff

See 10 Water Conservation Tips for Bay Area residents and homeowners. Even if you live outside the realm of EBMUD, the global water supply desperately needs our help -- to sustain 6+ billion humans (and growing).

Watching a World Population Clock is always a sobering reckoning of that six-billion-plus number.

^{Photo © Ingrid Taylar}