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Despite glitches and hitches, O.C. cities pass new water rules

June 5th, 2009, 3:47 pm · 16 Comments · posted by

Severe drought and shrinking water supplies are pushing Orange County cities and water districts to craft new conservation rules, with at least 10 approving new measures so far. sprinklersgoc

But the state’s broken budget is stalling funding for some water-saving projects.

“The fact is, we have exhausted our budget this year,” said Joe Berg, water-use-efficiency programs manager for the Municipal Water District of Orange County. “There’s definitely significant impacts to us right now because of the state budget situation.”

And in some Orange County cities, reluctant politicians also are questioning the need for tougher laws that would penalize residents for excessive use of water, with early attempts to pass new restrictions going down to defeat.

Tustin’s City Council, for example, rejected a tougher ordinance June 2 that would have limited watering to certain times of day.

Even with the glitches, roadblocks and delays, however, Berg — in effect, Orange County’s point-man for water conservation — remains optimistic.

“Agencies are working diligently to get those ordinances in place,” Berg said. “(City) councils are also becoming more comfortable putting ordinances in place.”

Most of the new rules come in response to a decision April 14 by the region’s water wholesaler, the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, to reduce supplies to downstream agencies by 10 percent. The figure grows to about 20 percent when other recent cuts are added; the cut takes effect July 1.

The supply cut was widely anticipated in Southern California, and many agencies began working on new conservation measures before it was approved. Persistent dry weather — once again classified this week as “severe drought” – prompted many agencies to plan ahead.

Berg and others at the Municipal Water District of Orange County are working with 27 cities and agencies to pass versions of a model ordinance that would toughen water-use rules — restricting watering to certain times of day, for example, or forbidding the hosing down of paved surfaces. Ten have passed them so far.

Santa Ana, not part of Berg’s group, recently raised water rates ; Fullerton is expected to consider a “phase 1″ water plan this month that would involve some restrictions, said city water quality specialist Chad Blais, while Anaheim put conservation measures in place in 2007 and is not planning to consider any further restrictions this year, said spokeswoman Margie Otto.

Late last month, the Yorba Linda Water District imposed tough new rules that, among other things, provide for fines and rate hikes for excessive water use. Residents of the district’s service area, which includes Yorba Linda and parts of Brea, Placentia and Anaheim, cannot water between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., nor hose down their paved driveways.

The El Toro Water District passed a law restricting watering to three times a week beginning July 1, while San Clemente also toughened its water rules.

San Juan Capistrano’s City Council, meanwhile, approved a law last month calling for voluntary restrictions and increase rates for excessive water users, but rejected tougher measures, such as forbidding washing cars in driveways.

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The supply cut in April by Metropolitan, the regional wholesaler, was in part a response to court-ordered reduction in pumping from the Calfornia Bay Delta to protect a threatened fish, the delta smelt.

Metropolitan also imposed a 19 percent water-rate increase on the water agencies it supplies, expected to result in some rate increases being passed along to consumers. The rate increase includes a surcharge related to reduced delta pumping because of the smelt; the funds could be used to find a better solution to meet the needs of both the fish and water users.

Such actions hit south Orange County harder because residents there are almost 100 percent dependent upon imported supplies.

North and central county cities can draw from the deep underground aquifer managed by the Orange County Water District. But that district also has reduced pumping from the aquifer.

Some programs that offer home and business owners rebates for installing water-saving devices, along with other conservation projects, are on hold because of a freeze on state funds, a result of the state’s budget crisis. But Berg said some $40 million has already been spent in Metropolitan’s Southern California service area with its population of 19 million.

He hopes a backlog of applicants for rebates at his agency and others will persuade Metropolitan to authorize another $24 million next week.

“That’s an investment of over $64 million in one year of conservation,” he said. “That is unprecedented investment.”

(Register photo by Joshua Sudock.)

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 16 Comments

  • Choctaw says:
    June 7, 2009 at 10:53 am

    I WONDER HOW MANY OF THESE CITIES IMPOSING TOUGH RESTRICTIONS ON RESIDENTS HAVE STOPPED ALLOWING NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. I’LL BET NONE. THE DEVELOPERS GIVE TOO MANY CAMPAIGN DOLLARS TO POLITICIANS TO EVER HAVE TO DEVELOPMENT RESTRICTIONS PUT IN PLACE!

  • evennow says:
    June 7, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    Why are parks in Orange automatically watered EVERY SINGLE MORNING? If you go to the park,it’s sopping soaky wet – every day. It’s ridiculous at best and tragic in the eys of a drought.

  • chuckconners says:
    June 7, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    Easy cash cow for broke cities. Impose stiff fines / raise water rates. Helps pay for who knows what.

  • Marc960 says:
    June 7, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    HEY OCR!!

    How about a map that you can read? Large enought to get down to street level too.
    Give us a link to the overview map the State or County has to have one they refer to.

  • Richard Deight says:
    June 7, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    Fact: We live in a semi-arid desert. Drought killed off the cattle, wiped out the Spanish ranchos, and ended the era of the great Spanish land grants in 1869.

    Someday someone will figure out why we didn’t just go and build desalinization plants. The water is right there for the taking. As much as we need. Like the Talking Heads said, “There is water at the bottom of the ocean.”

    Well, we had the chance. It never made sense to build pipe lines, pumping plants, and aqueducts to bring Sacramento River water up and over mountains to the sourth, some five hundred miles away.

    Now environmentalists say some fish might be disturbed if we build desalinization plants. This is the same specious reasoning for not upgrading the state’s water distribution system to import more water. Fish.

  • Johnb says:
    June 7, 2009 at 4:53 pm

    With all the home foreclosures, you’d think water use would be way down. I think this is just another scare tatic to raise rates.

  • Sharon says:
    June 7, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    I agree with Johnb. when they ask people to conserve electicity or water the price goes up because they have to find a way to make a bigger profit. The consumer can’t win.

  • ocobserver says:
    June 7, 2009 at 6:18 pm

    This is just another tax on you working folks during hard economic times. Now they know that they have to disguise their taxes to prevent an uprising. So you will see your water, garbage, electricity rates go through the roof. And you will NEVER see water rates come down when we get massive amounts of rain like we did a few years ago. It would seem that the rates would operate on a demand and supply basis. But the NEVER come down. Only go UP! You can figure out that scam, can’t you? Any 5th grader should be able to see through it. Complain to your respective water districts about the scam and advise them that you are onto it. And ask them if their management is taking a pay decrease and pension reduction to help solve the problem. Naturally you will get the deer in the headlights look from them when you ask that question.

    • rico says:
      June 14, 2009 at 7:17 pm

      Ocobserver – raising rates or imposing penalties is the ONLY way to get most people to conserve. I barely notice my water and trash bill as it is. You seem to think there is a conspiracy to shaft everyone and you want the few workers at the water district to take pay cuts as if that will solve something? There is no one on the grassy knoll, relax.

  • ocbear says:
    June 7, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    As a thought experiment, let’s substitute “living space” instead of “water.” If Southern California were running out of living space, would government have us conserve living space, or try to slow down the population growth and new development? You can see, from this simple example, that conservation is only a very short-term band-aid and the ONLY long term fix is to stop the state towards a path of becoming a population of a billion people.

    • Chris says:
      June 8, 2009 at 9:02 am

      Amen, ocbear!!

      Logic is a tool that will never be used by our government officials. Otherwise, they’d all be out of work.

  • habanerojo says:
    June 7, 2009 at 9:14 pm

    I love conspiracy theories as much as the next guy, but come on. We’re talking about water. We live in a desert.

    If you want free water, move to Oregon. They’ve got it coming out of their ears…which is why I’d rather live here. Personally, I’m happy to cut back on the watering. And I can use this as an excuse with my wife when she wants me to do the dishes.

  • North County Mike says:
    June 8, 2009 at 8:14 am

    The Southern CA Water Company’s mandatory rationing proposal is going before the CPUC. The proposed use allocation plan is unjust and discriminatory for those household customers that have a history of conservation. I have already sent off a formal protest letter to the CPUC.

  • RandyBalboa says:
    June 16, 2009 at 10:31 am

    This is the result of our tax based government and the big boy developers skirting slow growth, because its not against the law to keep building water guzzling projects during a drought. We pay, they laugh all the way to the bank, with some towns, cities and now “villages” have been built short of federal mandated emergency water laws for 72 hrs. They find a city with lots of water, like Newport Beach and get use Newport’s water on “the good neighbor policy”. A old friend who happens to own some big water districts in East OC and further inland, says “there’s plenty of water, this is just greed at its best.”
    What happens if we get the “El Nino” experts are talking about, will we put the “water police” back in the barn? And lower the price of water after the deluge? Why aren’t new developments being built with water collecting systems (cisterns) for re-use and protecting coastal waters like Pelican Hills Country Club?, “shhhh! they had to do that because of those sue happy water quality environmentalists! Now water quality efforts have been adapted to this water conservation issue.
    What nonsense we go through, but its good that we’re planning for the worst? What happened to the old rain barrel, gov cant tax collecting rain water running off your roof, or can they?

  • Jon says:
    June 18, 2009 at 8:11 pm

    We need to do something. I am tired of seeing people “watering the cement”. And people who water at 2P are also idiots because the water never soaks in. Water when the sun goes down so the water actually soaks in the grass – water @ 9P and you will need less than 2P because the water will soak in more. We do have a water crisis and those crying and laughing about it and probably the same ones saying “Global Warming” isn’t an issue either

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