SANTA CLARA – In the face of California’s lingering dry spell, a panel of multifamily executives this week shared ideas for water conservation within rental communities.
“It needs to be a multipronged approach,” said Jeff Bosshard, president of multifamily operations for Woodmont Real Estate Services. “There isn’t going to be one, simple answer.”
Bosshard was on a panel of executives that offered insights on the drought Wednesday during CAA Connect — Northern California Rental Housing Conference & Expo.
In addition to the CEO panel discussion, CAA Connect featured more than 160 vendor booths and a bevvy of property management seminars that covered everything from fair housing to marketing to handling evictions. The event attracted roughly 1,400 attendees and participants.
“It needs to be a multipronged approach. There isn’t going to be one, simple answer.”— Jeff Bosshard
The state’s unprecedented water shortage provided a natural topic for the CEO panel. After all, property managers and landlords, as well as their tenants, join tens of millions of other Californians facing mandatory water restrictions ordered last week by Gov. Jerry Brown.
At Woodmont, management uses marketing materials to educate residents about water conservation and makes sure units are retrofited with low-flow plumbing devices. As for landscaping, when it comes time to replace plants, the Belmont-based company might choose river rock or boulders instead. In cases where plants are necessary, Woodmont will work with landscapers to select drought-resistent varieties, Bosshard said.
While managing water use on lawns poses the biggest challenge, he said, everything from installing synthetic turf to smart irrigation systems can help.
Mike Bissell, president of multifamily property management at the SARES-REGIS Group, said his company is working with a third-party organization to identify other measures the firm can adopt to save water.
Bissell, who’s also president of the CAA Board of Directors this year, said he’s surprised the water crisis isn’t attracting more media attention or even further restrictions.
“I also think that in the near future it’s going to affect new development,” Bissell said.
“I don’t know what you can do except let your lawns go brown and live with it, and city by city, some are going to be really aggressive with fines that you would be difficult in every instance to try to pass it through to the residents if you can do it at all,” Scott said. “I don’t have a magic answer to that, but it’s going to be a tough one this year.”
Related content:
- Visit CAA’s water conservation site
- CAA supports water conservation bills
- Governor’s executive order on water reduction
- Summary of governor’s executive order
