Water conservation can begin at home

While the phrase “water is life” has been around for centuries in various forms, it has seen a rebirth in recent years associated with battles over water usage.  

With a dwindling supply, a new mantra may soon join it: “water is gold.”  

The value of water is certainly rising, and that’s why various factions, from environmental to governmental, agricultural to occupational, encourage homeowners to save water and save money.  

“Water is going to become gold here pretty soon,” is how Kris Hessinger of Hessinger’s Plumbing, Heating and Cooling of Belen puts it. Hessinger often sees water going down the drain, and your money with it.   

After the city of Belen and village of Los Lunas began using more accurate water meters several years ago, Hessinger started getting calls from frantic customers, claiming, “There’s no way I’m using 30,000 gallons of water a month.”  

Hessinger found otherwise.  

“Their swamp coolers have a steady stream coming out of them,” often from unseen pinhole leaks. “Multiply that by 24 hours a day and seven days a week — that’s a lot of water, man.” 

Hessinger suggests homeowners conduct a water survey, either through a plumber or, “It’s a lot less expensive if you just call your administrative authority, give them your account number and say, ‘Hey, how’s my water usage?’ They can call up your account,” and check specific details. 

The village of Bosque Farms recently began prohibiting residents from using village water to fill swimming pools.  

“We should not have had that practice,” points out David Chavez, village of Bosque Farms utility director. “It was stopped to save the village money and water.”  

Bosque Farms is also trying to curtail the stealing of water, sometimes by construction companies, by tapping into hydrants. The village purchased two water hydrant meters that keep track of how much water is used onsite, something Netflix recently rented while filming in the area. 

Chavez says the village quarterly newsletter includes any water related concerns for residents, adding, “the biggest thing is watering grass,” suggesting, “there are nice xeriscapes.” 

While incentives to preserve water are hard to find from municipal sources around Valencia County, there are ways to be more “water wise” in and around the home. 

Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District offers financial assistance programs that provide money for residents to do their own improvement projects. This effort is “the sweet spot,” in helping people with climate and fire adaptive plans, according to Andrew Hautzinger, Valencia SWCD district director.  

“Our ecosystem is changing before our very eyes,” Hautzinger stresses.  

Valencia SWCD has a competitive financial program in which applicants can receive as much as $30,000.  

“We work with them to develop a site-conservation plan that allows them to achieve their conservation objective,” Hautzinger says.  

This competitive program, which will reset in July, ranks applicants in order.  

“We really try hard to give people functional, usable tools for citizen conservation,” Hautzinger proclaims.   

For specific projects, there is a stand-alone program limited to $2,000 per application. There are six items available, on a first-come, first-serve basis, including high-efficiency toilets, rain barrels, pollinator plants and hoop houses for growing vegetation.  

or crusher fines, two to four inches deep around plants prevents evaporation.  

“Mulches tend to cool things down for the plant roots. They also tend to hold the moisture in the soil longer,” Hodoba said. 

Building a well around plants is also beneficial.  

“Fill that basin with water,” he said. “It’s a good way to water trees or shrubs, especially getting them started.”  

Hodoba says most plants need to be watered regularly, but he admits it can be “tricky.”   

He has compiled an extensive list of native and adaptive plants that are “low water use — good for pollinators like humming birds and butterflies.”  

On the bigger picture, Valencia Water Watchers is an organization, “Advocating for responsible, sustainable water management policies,” which includes monitoring local governments and big corporations. 

K.A. McCord with VWW encourages citizens to also be watchful.  

“Pay attention to what your elected officials are actually doing before they do it,” McCord says.  

Dierdra Velasquez, of the organization, encourages the use of water-saving toilets and sinks. Some entities offer free supplies, such as an energy and water saving kit from New Mexico Gas Company.  

“Just be smart about your usage,” says Linda Guenly, of VWW. “It’s the simple things,” like collecting rainwater and using native plants.  

Hessinger agrees that doing, “the simple stuff” is important; maintain swamp coolers, take shorter showers and use low flow shower heads and aerators. 

“Instead of running 2 1/2 gallons a minute, they can reduce the water flow to one gallon a minute, which is a huge reduction,” he said.   

Hessinger is neither a fan of water softeners, which “can waste five to 25 gallons per regeneration,” or purification systems using reverse osmosis.  

“I don’t like selling (reverse osmosis) in this environment,” he said. “Toilets are notorious for leaking,” so take off the lid when not in use to see if the water is running. And finally, don’t use toilets as a trash can, flushing away items like hair and cigarette butts.  

“I used to do it, then I grew up.”