Let's Talk About Water

A Message from the City Manager, Roubik Golanian

Hi Glendale! This month, I’d like to share with you one of the most crucial components of our ecosystem: water. Safe and readily available water is key to public health. For over 100 years, the public servants of Glendale Water & Power (GWP) have been committed to maintaining the safety of the City’s water supply. Water provided by GWP comes from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) and local groundwater wells. Each water source is highly treated to stringent state and federal water quality standards.  

MWD currently supplies Glendale with 60% of its water, supplied from the Colorado River due to a severe shortage here in California. MWD needs to make urgent repairs to one of its major pipelines that deliver water from the Colorado River to the treatment plant that supplies Glendale. This pipeline will be out of service for 15 days while it is being repaired, from September 6 through September 20, 2022. The shutdown will affect all agencies receiving water through this pipeline, including GWP.

You might be asking, “what do I need to do as a Glendale resident or business owner during the MWD shutdown?” While this pipeline is being repaired, we must switch to the State’s limited supply. Given the severe drought we are experiencing here in the region, all residents and businesses in Glendale and surrounding cities must stop outdoor watering and conserve as much water as possible during these 15 days.

As a reminder, the City is already at two a day-week watering in Phase III of Mandatory Conservation. During this urgent MWD shutdown, it is crucial to defer outdoor watering entirely.

I appreciate your cooperation and patience during this time. It will be a challenging two weeks, with an increase in brown lawns, but it must be done to ensure the reliable delivery of water to Glendale. GWP will update their website with information as it becomes available. You can also visit MWD’s website for additional resources.

Organics Recycling Pails: Food Scraps Simplified

You can conveniently separate organics using a separate container (ex. a bucket or pail) in your kitchen to collect food scraps! When using a recycling pail, remember to:

1. Line your Pail: Use a clear bag (ex. produce, sandwich, or regular clear bag)

2. Separate Materials: Food scraps, food soiled paper, and household plants in your kitchen organics pail.

• Coffee Grounds & Filters
• Bread, Cheese & Pastries
• Bones, Meat, Poultry, Seafood (softshell only)
• Paper Products (Bags, Cups, Napkins)
• Pasta, Grains, Rice & Beans

3. When full: Tie a knot on the bag, remove the bag from the pail, and place the bag in your organics bin/cart along with the loose yard trimmings for collection. Do not leave your pail inside or outside your cart, as it may end up discarded and not returned.

If you need an organics recycling pail or have questions, email recycle@glendaleca.gov.

Free Professional Assistance to Green Your Business!

Show how environmentally conscious your business is by becoming a Certified Green Business! It’s easy to make your businesses become more sustainable, efficient and profitable. To find out more information or to schedule a pre-assessment, please call 310.415.5993 or email GreenBusiness@glendaleca.gov.

Stay informed about outages through GWP's Outage Text Alerts!

Once enrolled, GWP will text you:

• If they detect a power or water outage in your area, with the estimated time we’ll have service restored.
• A status update, if the estimated restoration time changes or if we have restored service in your area.

Once enrolled, you can text GWP at 1-855-550-4497 to report water and electric outages:

• Text OUT to report a power outage.
• Text WATER to report a water outage.

Click here to enroll.

Interested in being a Trail Safety Patrol volunteer for the City of Glendale? 

As a Trail Safety Patrol volunteer (TSP), you have a unique opportunity to assist the City of Glendale by providing public assistance and resource protection.

TSP volunteers must be 18 years of age, undergo a background check and City-mandated trail safety training, be in good health, and devote a minimum of four hours per month. If interested, please send an email to trails@glendaleca.gov.

Drought-Tolerant Tree Reforestation Project

Public Works Forestry Section is continuing the late season tree planting efforts across the City, with 600 drought-tolerant trees going into parks and public rights-of-way. These new trees only require 5-15 gallons of water every week to establish, whereas lawns need 62 gallons for every 10 sq. ft. Trees are long-term investments that provide benefits such as calmed traffic, cleaner air, improved property values, among many others, including saving and filtering more water than they require to grow. Trees are our primary way of combating the heat island effect, in which our densest areas are also the hottest. Each address receiving a tree is mailed a letter that explains how to help water trees – in line with mandatory water conservation – and the benefits trees will provide to help combat the drought locally.

In addition, the ‘Greening South Glendale’ project, funded by a Cal-Fire grant, is scheduled to begin in Fall 2023. Public Works arborists will select 500 tree planting locations in neighborhoods near the 5, 2, and 134 freeways during the heat of summer. This funding also includes weekly watering for three years following planting.

GWP's NEW Off-Peak EV Charging Rebate Program

Glendale Water & Power just launched its new Off-Peak EV Charging Rebate program for residential customers. Receive incentives for charging your electric vehicles overnight on weekdays between 9:00 p.m. - 12:00 p.m. the next day, and any time on the weekend, and receive a credit of $8/month paid out once per year. The incentive is estimated to offer 1,300 miles of free driving per year!

Simply enroll by completing a one-time, 7-minute enrollment application, and the EV’s charging schedule handles the rest. This program shifts electric vehicle load to off-peak hours without any special hardware or separate meter needed. All battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles are eligible to participate in this program. Incentives are paid out yearly every January. Customers have the option to receive payments through PayPal, Venmo, or a paper check.

Off-peak EV charging helps relieve energy demand and utilizes available overnight capacity within GWP’s electric system. This then helps with reliability and benefits all GWP customers. With this program, other communities have seen participants charge off-peak at least 90% of the time, efficiently integrating EV load with the distribution system. Click here to learn more about our new Off-Peak EV Charging Rebate Program.