OAKLAND (KRON) — In the midst of California’s massive drought, Oakland resident Mary Jo Sutton and her husband are committed to making major changes.
They are only using about a quarter of the recommended allotment of water daily. “They say drought level is 100 gallons per day, but we’re at 24 to 26,” said Sutton.
Sutton has made small changes throughout her house. She uses “grey water” for washing clothes. Outdoors, she collects rain water in buckets to use for watering plants.
Sutton has been using her home-grown water conservation system for the past five years.
Even though she only uses 26 gallons a day, Sutton recently got a letter from East Bay MUD telling her she had to reduce her water usage.
“And they said they’re going to ask people to conserve by 25%; that’s a lot of water,” Sutton said.