[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 1/9/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

January 9, 2008

 

1.  Top Item

 

Poway declares Stage I water condition; Mandatory cutbacks not required, but move formalizes conservation appeals

North County Times – 1/9/08

By Andrea Moss, staff writer

 

POWAY -- In a hint of what may be in store for the entire region, the Poway City Council declared a Stage 1 water condition Tuesday after staff members said the move was necessary in the face of a potential water shortage.

City officials began urging residents to voluntarily reduce their water use several months ago. The Stage I declaration formalizes those appeals and is lowest on a list of seven increasingly strict water conditions.

 

No mandatory reductions are required yet. However, the alert includes eight conservation measures for residents to follow.

 

They include limiting shower time, running only fully loaded dishwashers and washing machines, and covering pools and spas.

Restaurants, hotels, car washes and agricultural facilities also are asked to comply with the measures, including a request that eateries offer their patrons drinking water only upon request.

If residents fail to conserve voluntarily, though, the city could move up the list of alerts, with increasingly severe cutbacks being required once a Stage 2 condition is declared.

Poway has issued a water alert only one other time. That was in the early 1990s, when the city restricted outside water use and urged people to voluntarily conserve indoors during another period of drought.

Council members had little to say about Tuesday's declaration, which they were told several weeks ago was coming. Councilwoman Betty Rexford asked only how the action might affect people who were already been conserving water.

Kristen Mignone Crane, who was named water conservation administrator for the city in October, said she didn't know the answer to that question yet.

"At this point, our goal is to focus on those who do have the capacity to conserve a little bit more," she said.

Officials throughout Southern California have been warning about an impending water crisis for months.

Reasons cited include drought conditions throughout the Southwest and a federal judge's August order that pumps that move water from the north part of the state to the south be shut down to protect an endangered fish known as the delta smelt.

The ruling reduced the amount of water coming into this area from Northern California by 30 percent.

Poway was one of several North County communities that called for people to reduce their water use, in response to the warnings. Water agencies that serve Fallbrook, Rainbow and Valley Center issued their own calls for conservation in recent months.

Officials in at least one other city -- Vista -- have at least talked about doing the same.

On Jan. 1, Poway began requiring 74 local agricultural growers who participate in a regional water program to cut their water use by 30 percent. The growers involved had been receiving discounted water rates in exchange for being first on a list of those who would have to conserve when supplies got tight.

The growers were told that those who fail to cut back by 30 percent could see the amount of water they receive in the future reduced.

Crane has said Poway as a whole faces a similar penalty if the city does not reduce its overall water use in 2008, compared with 2007.

Avoiding such a reduction is critical because the city buys about 96 percent of its water from the San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District, which import the water from Northern California and the Colorado River. Crane said the remaining 4 percent is recycled water that Poway buys from the city of San Diego for irrigation in the South Poway Business Park.

The Water Authority moved to the second of a four-stage drought management plan of its own in early December. The agency has been urging residents throughout the county to voluntarily conserve water as part of that plan.

Known as the "20-Gallon Challenge," the campaign recommends people use 20 gallons less water per person, per day, using some of the same measures Poway is advocating as part of its Stage 1 condition.

Some people have complained about being asked to reduce their water use while new homes are still being built in the area. Poway's water conservation plan, adopted in 1993, calls for restrictions on new building permits and water meters when the city reaches the two highest water conditions.

The entire list of conservation measures recommended during a Stage I water condition can be found on the city's Web page at poway.org. Residents can also pledge their participation in the 20-Gallon Challenge at www.20gallonchallenge.com. #

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/09/news/inland/3_01_451_8_08.txt

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