Water use in the Laguna Beach County Water District needs to shrink by 24 percent or 200 million gallons over the next nine months in order to comply with statewide mandatory reductions, the first in state history, local water officials announced this week.
To meet the mandatory cuts, beginning June 1 the district will limit outdoor watering by its 8,000 accounts to no more than 10 minutes, two days per week, and homeowners will start receiving the equivalent of water report cards in their bills, comparing water consumption between properties and households of similar size, water district spokesman Chris Regan explained.
“Since more than half of our daily water use goes towards landscape watering, the greatest opportunity for savings is over the next four months,” board President Kelly Boyd said in a statement, refering to the year’s peak water use during the hottest months.
If water use fails to decline, the board also authorized levying citations for customers who ignore warnings about unusual use and will consider adding a drought surcharge for big users who fail to curb consumpton, Regan said.
“If we’re not meeting the goals, the district will be faced with a penalty,” he said.
The additional emergency regulations enacted April 30 prohibit using drinking water for street medians, new construction that lacks drip or microspray irrigation and watering within two days of measureable rain.
Last month, Renae Hinchey, the district’s general manager, sent an appeal to the state Water Resources Control Board, which mandated cutbacks between 10 and 35 percent. Hinchey expressed surprise that LBCWD was told to curb usage by 25 percent and wanted to determine if the cut backs already achieved over the last year will be taken into consideration.
The district received a 1 percent reprieve, required to cut usage by 24 percent, compared to 2013 use rather than 25 percent, Regan said this week.
Customers shouldn’t feel penalized for their previous conservation efforts during the now three-year old drought. Since 2010, district customers have received bills every other month showing tiers of water use, calculated based on lot size, household size and climate information. Customers should aim to lower their consumption based on that budgeted allotment, but use it as they see fit, watering roses or trees perhaps instead of showering daily, Regan said. “Stay within the water budget; this is an extreme situation,” he said.
The 4,900 residents south of Wesley Drive in South Laguna supplied with water by the South Coast Water District have already been cut back to one day a week landscape watering, said General Manager Andy Brunhart.
The district, which serves other south county cities, is under a similar mandate to curb use by 24 percent, starting June 1. “If you don’t start strong, you’ll never get there,” he said.
Monitoring unexpected spikes in water use by customers, such as a broken sprinkler, remains a problem for water regulators. “We don’t know if there is a leak for two months,” Regan said, refering to the time required to manually read 8,000 meters in the 8.5 square mile district that serves 22,000 residents.
That may change within the next year. The board approved the districtwide installation of smart meters, a $3 million retrofitting task. The new meters would give water district staff readings every 15 minutes and customers could monitor their own per gallon usage with a smart phone application, Regan said.
Existing conservation measures imposed last June remain in effect and include bans on runoff, hosing walkways, operating fountains that do not recirculate water, unrepaired leaks and for restaurants, serving water unless requested.
Other drought info: http://www.lbcwd.org/water-use-efficiency/california-drought
