Water conservation is defined by the US Water Resources Council as activities designed to (1) reduce the demand for water, (2) improve efficiency in use and reduce losses and waste of water, and (3) improve land management practices to conserve water.

The Village/Town receive water from Lake Michigan within the Great Lakes Basin, which is the world’s largest surface freshwater ecosystem according to the Environmental Protection Agency. By drawing water out of Lake Michigan, the Village/Town directly impact the ecosystem of the Great Lakes.

Conservation has become increasingly valuable as the climate changes and droughts are happening more frequently. The best way to preserve the environment is to minimize human impacts to it, and the Village/Town have adopted a Water Conservation and Efficiency plan to do just that.
The Village/Town are actively taking measures to conserve water to minimize the impacts on the Great Lakes and provide a more sustainable future.

For conservation to be effective, it requires cooperation between Village/Town and its utility customers to use water in an environmentally sustainable manner. The following are several ways for the utility customers to participate in water conservation activities to actively support conservation measures to conserve water:

  • Install WaterSense fixtures
  • If any residential, commercial, or industrial customer notices a higher than usual water bill, call the Somers Village Clerk at 262-859-2822. The clerk will notify the water utility for staff to come to your residence or business and perform an inspection to assist in locating potential leaks.
  • Voluntary Lawn Sprinkling Restrictions

This conservation measure is voluntary and relies on resident’s participation to reduce water use for lawn watering. The following are general guidelines for promoting efficient lawn watering practices throughout the Village/Town:

  • Avoid watering lawns between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to minimize water loss due to evaporation. Generally, higher temperatures cause water to evaporate before it reaches the soil. Lawn watering early in the morning or later afternoon will generally be at lower temperatures and increase the amount of water entering the soil.
  • Water lawns a maximum of two to three days a week and only on an as-needed basis (if there is sufficient rain then watering the lawns will have little to no effect and only waste water).
  • A typical duration for watering lawns varies but should generally be between 10 minutes and 60 minutes, but no more than 2 hours. For more information on lawn watering, see this informational brochure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
  • The Village has a Water Conservation and Efficiency Plan with planned measures to reduce water use. The Village goal is to reduce water use per person by 10 percent going forward.

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