TRUCKEE

Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD) is launching a community-wide water conservation campaign to help residents and businesses understand and prepare for the state’s “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” regulation, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. The campaign kicks off with a free public garden party, educational materials, a garden photo contest, and new rebates designed to make conservation accessible and actionable for Truckee households.

The “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” regulation requires TDPUD to meet a community-wide water usage reduction target. The good news is that compliance is measured as a community total — not household by household — meaning there is no individual monitoring and no individual fines. If the Truckee community meets the target together, everyone benefits. However, failure to meet the goal may result in financial penalties for TDPUD, which could translate to water rate increases in the future.

TDPUD customers will need to determine how they can reduce both their indoor and outdoor water usage. TDPUD is offering rebates to customers who replace water-guzzling lawns with native and drought-tolerant lawns and other landscaping and hardscaping. TDPUD is also doing its part by fixing pipeline leaks and installing monitoring technologies to reduce water loss in its water distribution system.

To help kick off the campaign, TDPUD will host a free community garden party on Saturday, Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the TDPUD Conservation Garden,11570 Donner Pass Rd. in Truckee. Local stewardship partners and landscaping and nursery businesses will also be on hand to share their expertise. Light refreshments will be provided.

Learn more at tdpud.org/savewater. 

~ Truckee Donner Public Utility District press release