California American Water Reminds Ventura County Customers Winter Rains Have Arrived, It’s Time to Turn off Automatic Irrigation and Continue Focus on Water Conservation

California American Water is encouraging all of its Ventura County customers to conserve water by turning off outdoor irrigation systems now that the first large rains of the season have arrived. The recent storms cut the need for outdoor watering and California American Water is urging customers to leave their sprinklers and other irrigation systems turned off for at least seven days after the rains end.

“The storms that passed over Southern California dumped more than two inches of rain in some areas making this the wettest October since 2004. There is no need to turn on our sprinklers for a week or more,” said Al Yañez, California American Water’s Ventura County operations manager. “We are encouraging our customers to conserve water by refraining from turning irrigation systems back on too early.”

Despite this early season rainfall, the region is still struggling through ongoing water supply challenges. In late June, the state Department of Water Resources issued this year’s final water supply allocation of 50 percent from the State Water Project. This cutback is, in large part, due to endangered species issues within the Sacramento Delta Estuary.

California American Water offers rebates on water-saving appliances, free household water use surveys, leak detection kits for toilets and other conservation tools and ideas. Customers can sign-up for these services by stopping by California American Water’s local office located at 2439 West Hillcrest Drive, Newbury Park, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., or by calling 805-498-1266, ext. 7815.

California American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), provides high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 600,000 people. California American Water’s Ventura County service district includes approximately 20,000 households and businesses and serves a population of approximately 60,000 in the cities of Camarillo, Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks as well as unincorporated portions of Ventura County.

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 16 million people in 35 states, as well as Ontario and Manitoba, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.