A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 11, 2008
2. Supply –
Tiered pricing considered for water conservation: Newport Beach
Daily Pilot- 8/11/08
Water issues tax city growth
The
What
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Tiered pricing considered for water conservation: Newport Beach
Daily Pilot- 8/11/08
By Daniel Tedford
Places like
Tiered pricing is a method of water allocation that aims to motivate consumers to conserve. A base allocation, an amount of water that officials would deem appropriate, would be applied to each individual property for a base rate. If a household went over its allotted amount, it would be charged an increased rate for the additional water.
Those who stayed within their allotted amount would pay a base amount, a total most likely less than what consumers are paying now, said Steve Myrter, director of Newport Beach Utilities.
The idea of tiered pricing came into play after an
The matter was an urgent one for the grand jury, saying water could be at crisis levels as early as next year, according to the report. A multiyear drought, reduced snow pack and a court order reducing imported water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have contributed to stress water levels in
The grand jury’s findings asked for more water conservation and said conservation pricing, or tiered pricing, was a fair and effective means to motivate conservation.
“We want to price water cost-effectively and fairly, but if water becomes a resource that is no longer readily available, we should reward people who use water wisely,” Myrter said. “And if people don’t choose to use water wisely, there is an incentive to improve their behaviors through lowering cost.”
Myrter has helped prepare a letter in response to the grand jury that will be presented at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Water agencies focus the bulk of their conservation efforts on residential water usage, as the majority of use comes from outside residential homes — about 60% is the industry standard, Myrter said. The most common culprit of water waste is when residents overwater their lawns, he said.
Water agencies and cities address a number of conservation issues through education and awareness, but that may not be enough.
The city has commissioned studies to determine the cost of implementing a price tiering system — which could be expensive due to the computer system needed — and is evaluating the 26,300 accounts in Newport Beach to determine what an appropriate allocation would be for each customer. Those studies are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“While we certainly support measures to conserve water, as evidenced by promoting high-tech weather-based irrigation systems, at the same time, we must be careful to ensure that
In any circumstance where lifestyle changes may be enforced, some residents may not agree with their allocation amounts.
For every building or home with 100 cubic feet of water use, the
“What is most important about a water rate structure is that is fair and equitable,” Daigle said. “It’s politically correct to conserve water, but it could result in a practical problem down the line. If the [Municipal Water District of Orange County] takes the savings from us to add new users and then there’s a shortage in the future, then everyone is usually asked to cut the same percent. If we are down to the bone to begin with, then cutting will be very painful and may not be voluntary.”#
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008/08/10/topstory/dpt-waterconservation080908.txt
Water issues tax city growth
The
By Linda Lee, Special to the Valley Press
Earlier this year Palmdale was told that its General Plan - the city's blueprint for growth - was not viable considering the area's limited water supplies and lack of facilities to store supplies.
That news came from consultants who prepared a regional water management plan to help solve the region's water shortage and provide reliable supplies long into the future.
Palmdale's General Plan, which is being updated, calls for a total build-out within the 174 square miles of the city and surrounding areas of 139,205 housing units and a population of 441,280.
In 1980, Palmdale had 4,658 housing units compared to 24,439 in 1990. The estimate in 2000 was 39,468 units.
"Growth is not our problem," said Councilman Mike Dispenza. "The use of water in that growth is our problem."
According to the regional water management plan, the inability to approve new development within the city could hurt the economy and affect all water users in the
According to a Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance report, retail sales in the
If a moratorium on development were imposed in 2010, this increase in revenue growth would likely flatten or decrease, says the regional water management plan.
While the economy has slowed projected growth and Los Angeles County Waterworks has stopped promising water to new development, Palmdale leaders are optimistic that a change in building standards and conservation measures will help free up water for new building projects.
Part of the problem is the amount of water - about 70% of all water use - that is sucked up outdoors for landscaping, Dispenza said.
While the downturn in housing and the real estate markets mean less pressure is placed on water supplies, "We need to learn during this time so we will be able to handle growth in the up cycle," he said.
When the housing market improves, "hopefully some of the steps we put into place will show we can live with growth," Dispenza said. "This is not easy. That's the reason it's so exciting."
Palmdale Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Knight said he was surprised to hear the General Plan was not viable but wants to be cautious about how the city reacts.
"I don't want to scare people into saying that our water is at such a state that we are in an emergency. I don't want people to believe, because of the situation we are in right now, growth is going to stop, that the communities are going to have serious health issues or problems in the future," Knight said.
"The General Plan is a living, breathing document we can work with," he said.
Southern California's regional planning agency has mandated that Palmdale build nearly 18,000 more housing units during the next six years with more than half those designated for households with moderate or below moderate incomes.
Local leaders find the numbers unrealistic and sued the agency after it denied an appeal of the number of housing units.
Even in peak growth times, that many units never have been built in the city, Dispenza said. "We were shocked when we saw the state numbers."
Palmdale City Councilman Tom Lackey said the numbers are unrealistic, even without the water factor.
"The market is what drives development, not city government, not any government," Lackey said.
The mandate from the regional planning agency "frustrates a lot of people because it's 'feel good,' so they can point the finger and say, 'We told you that this needed to be done,' knowing full well that those numbers couldn't be met realistically," he said.
"So the water element just makes it another issue of frustration for those numbers that they're trying to say we're responsible to meet," Lackey said.
The city is responsible in ensuring that low-income residents have an opportunity to have a place where they can afford to live and will meet that responsibility even though it may not meet the numbers that the Southern California Association of Governments is projecting, he said.
While Palmdale faces no formal penalty for not meeting the housing numbers, it can lose out on money such as work force housing funds, public improvement grants and first-time home buyer funds if it does not provide the zoning required to allow such growth to occur.
If water suppliers cannot accommodate 18,000 new units, Palmdale cannot be held to that mandate, said Huasha Liu, director for planning methods, assessments and compliance department for the Southern California Association of Governments.
"It's a real world out there, and it changes from time to time," Liu said. "So that means we have a long-term (plan), and at the same time we may need to commit ourselves to be flexible to make amendments as the real-world situation changes."
The mandate does not require cities to develop a certain number of units, but requires cities to plan for it and make sure zoning will accommodate the growth, Liu said.
"How much growth can we absorb and keep the quality of life?" Dispenza asked. "How much can we tolerate the rights of others? We have to come up with answers to how growth can occur without the impacts of the past."
One of those answers may lie in greater use of recycled water.
"Purple pipes (for recycled water) were never required in the past. We were always told it was too expensive," Dispenza said.
Councilman Steve Hofbauer said he has been urging the use of recycled water in new projects "and I was fought tooth and nail by the development industry."
"If you're going to build a street, you're building curbs, gutters and sidewalks, streetlights, put the sewer in, you put purple pipe in as far as I was concerned. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with it," Hofbauer said.
Purple pipe carries disinfected, filtered, treated sewage water to areas such as parks, golf courses and medians, where it is used for irrigation. Recycled water also can be used for some industry processes such as cooling systems, as well as recharging the groundwater basin.
"Now where would we be today if we had dropped that in on
Hofbauer has also advocated that any large master-planned communities such as Ritter Ranch, which is designed for 7,000 homes in the hills of southwest Palmdale, have self-contained recycling systems for gray water that is discharged from washing machines, bathtubs and bathroom sinks.
Tom DiPrima,
"Even if we had purple pipe, part of it has to start with having the facilities to be able to treat and generate tertiary water," the term for treated sewage that is safe to use for irrigation, he said. "We've got to be able to have the water to come through it, or it's not going to do us any good."
Dispenza said he is an advocate of growth, and in areas such as
"You can't tell people they can't utilize their property," Dispenza said. "You can't stop it or go unbridled with it. Most thinking people know we can't stop growth - what they want to do is manage it. A lot of times they can't see that, and a lot of times I can't blame them."
Lackey said the city has limited control over water, putting the city in a cooperative position and the responsibility of community with the public.
"I think we need to work with governing boards in trying to establish a mind-set in our community of the importance of the responsible use of water that would include reasonable conservation efforts," he said.
"The fact that we have to manage growth, we have to work responsively with those agencies who have to give us meaningful data as to what is responsible and what is not responsible."
When water agencies say they can provide water to a particular development project, "we have to trust that agency has water available to provide that service," Lackey said.
"If nothing else, this water crisis has improved our communication and at least our need to communicate," he said.
Drought conditions and disruptions in water deliver systems can affect supplies, Lackey said. "I don't think anybody has the ability to foresee, but the projected growth, as we went through this Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, creates a real problem for the future," he said.
The Integrated Regional Water Management Plan was adopted by 11 agencies to lay out solutions to the Valley's water shortage and provide reliable supplies long into the future.
The water that is available can barely meet the needs of our current population according to the regional plan, he said.
"So we have got to take some immediate measures and better cooperate fully together to find a way," Lackey said.
The water crisis only can be solved through teamwork, he said.
"The first thing we do is ask for cooperation from our public to understand the challenges that we have. Ask them to be responsible users of water and to conserve when they feel that they can conserve," he said.
"People just have to be more responsible in the way they do their landscaping and the way they use their water."
Lackey suggested residents use push brooms instead of hosing down their sidewalks with water, cut down on washing their vehicles and make sure they don't leave the hose running when they do wash their vehicles.
"And that's one of the nice things about this Integrated Regional Water Management Plan: it has partners of all sorts of experts … some of them even have different interests. But they all have the interest in making sure there is water."
Lackey said the city already is making it clear to developers that water conservation is critical to the community.
"That's just going to be the nature of the future. These large turf areas for future homes and homeowners, they're not going to happen, just by nature of the limited water that's going to be available," Lackey said.
The Valley's water problems are not making it difficult to market Palmdale, Lackey said, because the city is taking responsible measures to address the problem.
"The only people it would be difficult to market to are people who feel inclined to not want to be partners in the use of water, and I don't think that's a very big market we have to worry about.
"Most of the people we solicit to come to our city want to be responsible partners and are willing to do what's necessary to be good city neighbors," Lackey said.
Knight said developers bring more than just their projects to a community. "They do bring a lot of amenities," he said.
"We tend to get things out of developers that we couldn't get just on our own, maybe more parkland," he said.
"They bring a lot, and we require a lot. And we might require more of them as they bring in more projects."
Planning for future growth is difficult when so much uncertainty exists about water supplies, Knight said.
"You've got to remember there are only a couple of ways you're going to get water - either God drops it on us or we buy it.
And that's about it."
"We don't know how much rain we're going to get, so we don't know what we're going to have to buy. That is always going to be a balancing act," he said.
"But we are a developing community. We are trying to bring amenities and jobs and things like that to the community, and with that comes growth, whether it be residential or commercial. You're going to need a great deal more water," Knight said.
The General Plan is not a document set in stone, Knight said. "I believe this is going to evolve. … there's a lot of wheels turning, and everybody's looking for a better way."
Knight said he would like to see development continue, but if the Palmdale Water District refused to guarantee water to new development, "That's their way of being responsible with the water, and I've got to go along with that."
But one councilman thinks slowing residential growth is a good idea.
"In my opinion, I could care less if we issued another housing building permit in this Valley until we get this problem completely resolved," Hofbauer said.
"Residential property costs the city money to service. Taxes you get from that are miniscule. When you start looking at commercial and industrial development, that brings something back into the existing community. It's bringing back sales tax dollars; it's providing jobs," he said.
The only way the city is going to be able to provide services such as public safety is to have a sustainable economy, Hofbauer said.
The average industrial-commercial project doesn't use nearly the amount of water that homes do, he said.
"Developers need to be given incentives to build projects with drought-tolerant landscaping, called xeriscaping," Hofbauer said. "This baloney you see in some of these developments where they just let the ground cover die, that's not xeriscaping. It's not native. … There's no ground cover, there's no rocks, decomposed granite.
"There's beautiful things you can do with xeriscaping, but it's not being done," Hofbauer said. "We need to encourage that, if not encourage, perhaps even mandate it."
Developers say that people moving to the Valley from other areas like "nice green yards" and they have to cater to that market, Hofbauer said.
Hofbauer said some of these solutions have not been put into place because "the development community has got a heavy amount of influence on these issues, and they don't want to do it."
Hofbauer said the city will either have to mandate requirements or offer incentives such as waiving fees or giving building density bonuses that allow a developer to increase the number of units built in exchange for finding ways to reduce water usage.
"The general public is not crazy about density bonuses, but how else do you accommodate it?" Hofbauer asked. "We can't afford to keep waiving fees. So how else do you provide the incentive?"
"I'm not a big fan of xeriscape," Knight said. "I am a fan of being responsible in the community and bringing in new ideas.
"I know some people like xeriscape, they do like the rocks and the very low drought-tolerant plants and things of that nature and taking the turf away."
Knight said turf helps the aesthetics of a community, but he wouldn't mind reducing it in future neighborhoods.
"I do like turf in neighborhoods. I think that most people do. I think that most people like to have grass. They like to be able to play on the grass and have some place for their kids to play. If we just go straight to xeriscape, we are taking that away from the families. I just don't think we are at that point," Knight said.
Laws signed by Gov. Gray Davis in 2001 require developers who want to build more than 500 units to identify a water supply to sustain the project for 20 years.
Hofbauer said developers can get around that requirement by splitting a large development in half.
"So they play the game and they don't have to find a long-term solution," he said.
"There should be a system of checks and balances, water credits, if you do something to save a significant amount of water that you get, not just get your project approved, but get some sort of a credit toward something else that you want to do. Or you can turn around and market that credit to somebody else because now you've created an economy within the system, a commodity out there that's marketable," Hofbauer said.
Mayor Jim Ledford said stakeholders in the
Resources need to be better managed and "will require a change in how we do business," he said.
"Water becomes very obvious, but all utilities are areas where we need to be careful. These are not infinite resources, and we have to better manage those resources," he said.
"One way to do it is through design criteria that will give us more efficient use of those resources, and thus, we'll be able to sustain an individual home and ultimately, individual communities," Ledford said.
"You're going to see a radical decrease in turf. We're not eliminating grass, but we're going to cut it back significantly.
"Development today is certainly different than it was 20 years ago, certainly 50 years ago. It's a different product," Ledford said.
"Communities want more. We want more value building in our architecture, we want sustainability that value can support. So a lot of ways from design, to the amount of insulation, to the yard, these are all areas we need to be positioning for the future of Palmdale," he said.
Future growth is going to be predicated on "better efficiency and better recognition of water as a vital resource," Ledford said. "It may require a change to our General Plan."
"For us to sustain the population we have today, it's going to require sufficiency, because we've already outstripped the aquifer's ability to furnish water for our cities today. If we were dependent on groundwater, we would have a problem. I think we would hurt our aquifer and would overdraft it."
Ledford said the city may see a resurrection of Joshua trees in development and landscaping medians "because they really are earth's best specimen for this climate."
Palmdale City Manager Steve Williams said the city already has adopted strict landscaping standards for front yards "that are really cutting-edge in the
Williams said there are no more landholdings on the scale of Ritter Ranch, so the city will not see any more large master-planned communities in the future.
"When you say the General Plan is not viable, that simply means that the water supply that is known is probably not enough to supply the total build-out of the city. But it doesn't mean that it can't be there in the future if changes are made in the way water is used, the way water is delivered," Williams said.
A proposed canal that would carry water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta "should be a very high priority because it circumvents the need to pump water out of the Delta, which creates environmental issues and all kinds of problems," he said.
"I think the notion of absolutely zero growth is not necessarily the optimum situation for the
City officials wants to reduce water use in new homes by 40%. For existing homes, city officials are considering offering rebates or other incentives to reduce water use.
The city has already installed four waterless urinals at the
The waterless urinals are expected to save 40,000 gallons of water per unit each year, enough to serve four households.
Turf no longer is allowed in new commercial developments.
The expectation of future water and energy shortages has prompted city officials to consider new development and land-use standards intended to promote sustainable growth in the city.
Lyle suggested the city expand its development standards for efficient water use in residential landscaping to promote the efficient use of water and energy in the public, industrial and commercial domains.
Before an ordinance is developed outlining new standards, Palmdale officials are seeking guidance from those who might be affected such as residential and commercial developers, utility companies and business organizations.#
http://www.avpress.com/n/10/0810_s3.hts
What
By Dennis Wyatt, Managing Editor
There is a difference between perpetuating a Big Brother government mentality when it comes to laws governing our lives and one that protects everyone else from those who have wanton disregard for everyone else or are ignorant of the damage they are doing to the community.
Water conservation and how vulnerable one makes their property to fire and health concerns are two categories that many cities - including Manteca - are too timid in addressing especially the face of the changing realities of California having 36.5 million residents and counting.
Too many people take the attitude with water that it is none of government's business how they use it since they pay for it.
There is a reason cities were formed. By bringing a bunch of individuals together under one umbrella - an incorporated city - it was possible to address health and safety issues that individuals couldn't afford to do on their own. Included is a secure and clean source of drinking water.
It is tough to regulate personal use or misuse of water. The city obviously can't go into bathrooms and monitor people who leave water running while they brush their teeth instead of turning it on or off. Stuff like that is indeed Big Brother.
But they can impact behavior in unobtrusive ways and justify it by the fact we all benefit from wise conservation of water.
One of the biggest single wastes of water is the over-watering of landscaping especially in winter months or those who have automatic systems that come on rain or shine.
Retrofitting existing homes is virtually impossible unless, of course, it is conditioned at the time of sale before it can close escrow. Given this state's growth and the increasing scarcity of water that may need to happen one day.
But there is no reason - unless it is lack of political fortitude and having absolutely no vision - for this City Council not to direct staff to require all new construction whether it is residential, commercial or otherwise that has landscaping to include moisture sensors as a requirement that must be installed before an occupancy permit will be signed.
The wanton waste of water is a crime. Just because one can afford it doesn't mean it is OK. Far from it.
Some cities require the installation of drought-resistant landscaping. It may come to that but in reality if people simply stopped over-watering landscaping, they'd be major savings.
Farmers and other large users of water have been practicing various conservation measures for years because each dollar they spend on water comes directly from their bottom line. Farming is a business that is highly dependent upon water.
The city, by the same token, should get serious about passive solar landscaping. Drive down any
The species allowed to be planted aren't creating large canopies to reduce heat reflected from pavement or to block sun beating down on homes. The worry driving species selection 15 years ago was buckling sidewalks. Yet these trees are required y the city and are planted well into the front yard.
Having a front yard tree is a requirement that is in place. It's too bad that no one has stopped and looked at just how ineffective it is in terms of energy reduction and natural cooling. City requirements make no sense if steps aren't taken to make sure they succeed at obtaining the goals that prompted them in the first place.
This city also needs to get serious about replacement shake roofs.
There needs to be a law in place that prohibits the use of shake in replacing any roof as well as an existing shake roof if it constitutes more than 10 percent of the roof area.
Shake is expensive. It looks nice. But just because you can afford it doesn't mean it is right for you to use it.
It's been probibited from new home construction in Calfornia. The reason is obvious. Fire danger. And it isn't just to the home with the shake roof but neighboring homes as well. If you doubt this is a concern in an urban area, just remember what happened in June in Stockton where 30 homes were destroyed in a tire that was given a lot of help in spreading thanks to an abundance of shake roofs.#
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=54&ArticleID=58823
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