The Livermore Valley's residents and businesses deserve recognition for the excellent job they collectively did in reducing water use last year.
Pleasanton, with hefty penalties in its water rates, dropped 31 percent (103 gallons per day per capita), while Livermore went down 28 percent (87 gallons) for the municipal users while California Water Customers went down 32 percent (98 gallons), while Dublin San Ramon Services District customers reduced usages 30 percent (73 gallons). Both DSRSD and Livermore benefit from the use of recycled water for landscape irrigation.
The state water board's proposed regulations this week to implement Gov. Brown's mandatory 25 percent reductions include a ban on irrigating medians landscaped with grass. That likely will mean plenty of dead grass on Hopyard Road while the city finally gets its recycled water program going—something that will not take place until next summer at best.
Incidentally, the drought may have figured into the wise decision by Pleasanton leaders to install artificial turf on the new sports fields going into the Bernal Park. Bringing recycled water to the park is in the second phase of the city's plans to utilize more reclaimed water for irrigation.
Last summer, Pleasanton rented a tanker truck to deliver recycled water from the Dublin San Ramon Services District treatment plant to the city-owned Callippe Preserve course that is located seven miles away. That truck made 1,798 trips over six months to deliver recycled water to the course. The city spent $36k to use the recycled water and likely will do the same this year.

My mail box daily contains campaign literature for the 7th Senate district as both Susan Bonilla and Steve Glazer and so-called indendent committees try to sway voters in the May 17 runoff election for the seat that Mark DeSaulnier vacated after he was elected to Congress.
Bonilla certainly has the support of the traditional pro-Democrat groups including the unions, organizations such as Planned Parenthood and this week's latest announcement, the LGBT advocacy group. Most of the elected Democrats also are backing her.
The district leans strongly Democratic with a 43.5 percent registration compared to 29 percent for the Republicans. Glazer, who won the endorsement of the major newspapers, has courted Republican voters with pieces touting endorsements from Republican elected officials.
He's got a good chance if he gets a share of moderate Democrats and combines that with Republicans and independents (22 percent).
What is for sure is that the big money campaign will only get more heated as Election Day draws near.