Santa Barbara Residents Asked to Take Part in National Water-Use Survey

Survey Aims to Find Out How Water Is Used at Household Level to Help Guide Future of Water Conservation

The anonymous survey asks questions such as how many leaks participants have had in the last two years. | Credit: Sasikan Ulevik on Unsplash

The City of Santa Barbara is asking residents to complete a National Water Use Survey to explore how water is used at the household level with the goal of calibrating models for the future of water conservation.

The anonymous survey asks a variety of questions connected to home water use, such as how many leaks participants have had in the last two years, how many appliances participants have that use water, and what the status is of their irrigation system. The survey also asks participants about their behavior with water use, including questions about how much they agree with conserving water for different reasons.

“The survey results help us project long-range water demands, identify attainable conservation goals, and prioritize conservation measures through models,” said Madeline Wood, Water Conservation Analyst for Santa Barbara Public Works. She notes that this survey also assesses multi-family residences, which can provide a better idea of where to set leak thresholds for these types of properties.

In terms of current water availability, Wood mentioned that with reservoirs filling up over the last two winters, groundwater basins this year can finally reset. Yet Wood cautioned that this year has been drier, considering it is rare to have three plentiful rain seasons in a row. According to the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District, the the primary rainfall station in the City of Santa Barbara recorded more than 35 inches of rain in 2023 and more than 30 inches in 2024, while the city’s mean yearly rainfall has been 18.51 inches per year since 1900.

Meanwhile, water use in the city has fluctuated between about 6,000 and 7,000 gallons (800-900 cubic feet) used per single-family residence per month since 2015, and has stayed at a constant of 3,000 gallons (400 cubic feet) per month for the multi-family residences. Single-family residences consume 45 percent of the city’s water, while multi-family consumes 27 percent, and businesses consume 20 percent. Water production in 2021 was recorded to be about 3.7 billion gallons (11,475 acre-feet), which differs from the 5.5-billion-gallon high recorded in 1984 (16,826 acre-feet).
“The residential sector is the largest user of urban water in the country,” said Peter Mayer, the water consultant interpreting the survey data in a study. Mayer is particularly interested in what may change in this new survey, with new behaviors that may influence water use, such as the rising popularity of working from home.

The survey is one part of the study’s three components that can inform an understanding of the trajectory of water use. The other two components include partnerships with various nationwide water facilities that provide Mayer’s team with billing data, and with the San Luis Obispo company Flume operating a leak detection device that reports flow rates and water volume in households. The study is funded by the Water Research Foundation, a Denver-based nonprofit.

Santa Barbara volunteered as one of more than 50 other participating water utilities surveyed nationwide. “I’d rather that Santa Barbara customers are represented if we’re held to the standards based on a national study,” said Wood. Wood said these studies by the Water Research Foundation are what is primarily looked into when assessing how people in the U.S. are using water.

This is the third time in 30 years S.B. residents have been surveyed on their water usage, with the first survey conducted in 1999 and the second in 2016. When assessing results, it appears that Santa Barbara’s modeling efforts have been notable. “We have seen huge changes in flow rates and people’s behavior between the last two surveys. We’re getting more efficient over time,” said Wood. “Our community uses the same amount of water we did in the 1950s, despite the population more than doubling since that time.”

The survey will stay open through March for residents to enter an iPad raffle prize. “We plan for the worst, and hope for the best,” said Wood.