Charlottesville Water Conservation

- watering during mid-day when the sun is hot and high in the sky is water inefficient and can even hurt your plants! Water when the sun in low to avoid water waste and use Virginia native plants that require minimal watering.
Virginia is experiencing a drought right now, and although Charlottesville's drinking water supply is in a good place, we can still practice water saving behaviors and only use what we need.

- it is National Gardening Week!? While you are working in your garden or outside, now is a great time to set up a 🌧 in your yard to help you water your lawn and plants sustainably this summer☀️!
, don't forget we offer a $30 rebate! You can now submit your rain barrel rebate request online too!
Charlottesville.gov/Rainbarrels

- that you can save water outside when you pick drought-tolerant plants native to Virginia for your yard🌱?
These plants require little water beyond normal rainfall🌧.
Also putting these plants in the right place by grouping plants with similar watering needs together helps save water💧!
Check out this AMAZING plant database specific for our region: http://webapps.albemarle.org/nativePlants/default.aspx

-With summer almost here, it is time to start planning your better yard ☀️! This year, we and want you to think about the landscape that best fits your lifestyle, and we have lots of great tips and resources to help!
So whether you match with the Dog Digging Dilemma landscape or Playdate Priorities landscape, we have the info just right for you!
Start planning Your Better Yard Here: Charlottesville.gov/WCOutside

- Now is a great time to create a water-saving landscape that fits your lifestyle! Some great tips to consider in your planning include:
🌱Plant drought-tolerant plants native to VA.
💦Arrange beds in hydrozones based on water needs.
💧Consider installing drip irrigation or a rain barrel.
🌧Check out the City's $30 rebate for rain barrels: Charlottesville.gov/WCRebates.

Charlottesville.gov/WCOutside

- With these recent rain🌧 events we have been having, it makes you wish you had a rain barrel set up to collect water💧 to use for later.
we offer a $30 rebate for purchasing and installing a rain barrel!? Don't wait to get your rain barrel today and start collecting🪣.
Also don't forget to turn off your irrigation system and skip watering when it rains🌧.
Charlottesville.gov/RainBarrels

Thank you all for a wonderful Rivanna RiverFest! We talked to so many of you in the community about saving water and our water supply.
Our favorite part of this event was connecting with you all over our shared appreciation and love for the Rivanna River!
We can't wait to see you all next year or sooner at the river.

Who is ready for an AMAZING day tomorrow at Rivanna RiverFest! The weather looks perfect and there is so much stuff planned from 2:30pm - 9pm!
We will be there tabling with activities and information all about your water supply and saving water!
Come celebrate and experience your river!

- Join us this Saturday at Rivanna RiverFest to celebrate our community’s river and all who help protect it! 🌊💙 As we recognize Drinking Water Week, it’s the perfect time to appreciate the Rivanna River—an essential part of our local water system and a resource we all share.
Come enjoy family-friendly activities, nature walks, music, tubing, and more, while learning how clean rivers support safe, high-quality drinking water for Charlottesville.
📅 Saturday, May 9 | 2:30–9 PM
📍 Rivanna River Company
Learn more: https://www.rivannariver.org/rivanna-riverfest/
Let’s celebrate, explore, and protect our river together!

For , we want to highlight where your drinking water comes from and all the infrastrucutre, projects, and work needed to get water to your faucet.
Check out this infographic from Rivanna Authorities, our water supplier, on all the hard work that needs to happen for you to get safe, reliable, clean drinking water from your tap 24/7. This is a great reminder and reason why we should only use what we need and conserve water!

Water doesn’t just appear when we turn on the tap, it takes a strong, reliable system working behind the scenes to deliver it every day.

This , we’re highlighting the critical role infrastructure plays in ensuring safe, dependable water for our community. The community has invested in major projects to strengthen the resiliency and redundancy of our urban water system.

One key milestone was the completion of the new earthen dam at Ragged Mountain Reservoir in 2014, which expanded storage capacity from 514 million gallons to an impressive 1.4 billion gallons.

Stay tuned throughout the week as we spotlight additional projects that will keep water flowing when you need it most.