The participants were the homeowners, our clients. Most of them did not have a great deal of time and energy to participate in a survey. Some of the homeowners in our survey had been our clients from one to six years. We had no control over our clients water use. All we had was a Water Management Program that our clients received in a monthly newsletter, year after year, along with the strong recommendation that certain water conservation devices be installed.
Some clients let their landscapes go and some clients installed even more landscape.
Physical breaks in the irrigation sometimes occurred, causing a loss of excess water. Some clients were more concerned with saving water than others. These clients were the ones we worked closest with and they saved a larger percentage of water. This survey is applicable to customers in all water districts because it deals with real life and real people. Our program was set up as a guideline, a consistent series of choices, explanations, education and recommendations, leaving it up to the homeowner to ultimately decide how to use the water.