Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 28, 2009
2. Supply –
Otay water board OKs 20 percent rate hike
San Diego Union-Tribune
Locals abiding by stricter water rules
District officials say they’re pleased with how residents have responded to new usage restrictions
Glendale News Press
Wasting disease: Mayor's water faux pas an example of "do as I say, not as I do"
L.A. Daily News
It's Just That Simple: What can we do to conserve water?
Hanford Sentinel
Water-Wise Tip: Rainwater
Contra Costa Times
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Otay water board OKs 20 percent rate hike
New charges take effect on Tuesday
San Diego Union-Tribune-8/27/09
By Anne Krueger
The Otay Water District board has approved a rate increase of almost 20 percent despite complaints from some customers that they can't afford to pay more for water.
The rate increase, which takes effect Tuesday, was approved Monday by a 4-0 vote. Board president Gary Croucher was absent because he was out of town on business.
District officials say the rate increase is necessary because the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies water to San Diego County through the County Water Authority, is raising its price by 21.1 percent in September. Other increases are projected for 2011 and beyond.
The approval also allows the district to pass on annual rate increases from the Water Authority, and yearly increases of up to 10 percent for Otay's higher costs, for the next five years without holding another public hearing. Otay General Manager Mark Watton said customers still will be notified when a rate increase will go into effect.
The 19.9 percent increase approved by the board will raise a typical customer's bill from $52.54 to $62.27 per month. Otay officials said the district's rates still will be the 10th-lowest out of 23 county water agencies for customers with typical water usage.
The board also approved a 7.2 percent increase in its sewer rates over the next six years. District officials said the higher rate is needed because of increased regulations that require more monitoring of the system.
The Otay Water District serves more than 191,000 residents in southern El Cajon, La Mesa, Rancho San Diego, Jamul, Spring Valley, Bonita, eastern Chula Vista, Eastlake and Otay Mesa.
The public hearing was held under the provisions of Proposition 218, which requires notice of potential rate increases. The district sent about 64,000 notices to property owners and customers, and the increase could not have gone into effect if more than half had filed written protests. The district received 35 protest letters.
Nine people spoke at the hearing to complain about the rates.
Karen Hirr of El Cajon told board members the district should find ways to save money other than raising rates.
“Everyone asks us to dig deeper in our pockets and at some point, there is no more to dig,” Hirr said. “We're reaching that point.”
David Nichols of Spring Valley said he lives on a fixed income and is already trying to conserve water.
“If you don't have it, you can't pay it,” Nichols said. “I'm not looking for mercy, I'm just looking for solutions.”
Board members said they empathized with customers upset about the higher rates, but had to approve the increase because of higher costs.
“I don't expect you to like this 20 percent rate increase,” board member Larry Breitfelder told people at the meeting. “I don't like it. But I want you to know it's done for the public interest.”#
Locals abiding by stricter water rules
District officials say they’re pleased with how residents have responded to new usage restrictions
Glendale News Press-8/27/09
By Melanie Hicken
Residents are responding to massive regional efforts to reduce water consumption as local utility officials report marked water-usage reductions compared with previous years.
“We’re very pleased about the way our customers have responded to the restrictions,” Crescenta Valley Water District General Manager Dennis Erdman said Wednesday.
His district — which saw a 22% reduction compared with a five-year baseline average, the steepest in the area — has the most imposing water restrictions, with outdoor irrigation limited to two days a week. Glendale entered phase two of mandatory water conservation at the beginning of August, when the City Council approved limiting irrigation to three days a week.
The Burbank City Council will consider a similar proposal Tuesday.
The restrictions are in response to years of drought conditions and reduced shipments that started July 1 from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a major supplier for all three utilities. Areas that do not reduce consumption by at least 10% will be hit with heavy financial penalties at the end of the fiscal year, which would translate into higher rates for consumers.
Enforcement of the restrictions has been a common topic of concern, but officials say so far the restrictions seem to be working, with La Crescenta, Burbank and Glendale seeing customer cutbacks of at least 10%.
In the first half of August, Crescenta Valley saw a 13% reduction in water usage compared with the same time period last year, which is a 22% reduction compared with a five-year baseline average, Erdman said. June and July saw similar reductions.
In July, before the mandatory conservation restrictions were in effect, Glendale saw a 20% reduction compared with the 2006 baseline average, Atineh Haroutunian, public benefits programs coordinator for Glendale Water & Power, said. August statistics aren’t yet available, but Haroutunian said officials expect to see similar figures in August. “The customers are getting the message,” she said. “And we want to see this trend continue.”
Burbank, which has not yet instituted the mandatory 10% conservation seen in most county cities, experienced “a marked” cutback in water use in June and July compared with last year, said Bill Mace, assistant general manager for Burbank Water and Power.
While August figures were not yet available, Mace said if customer trends continue, the city would likely stay within its reduced allotment from Metropolitan.
“I think a lot of people have heard the message and have changed habits,” he said. “Burbank is a pretty cooperative community once the message gets out.”
Mace emphasized that the reduced water use was likely aided by cooler temperatures this summer compared to last. Officials from Glendale and the Crescenta Valley also cited the mild summer as a potential factor.
Utility officials attributed the success to massive public outreach efforts, including direct mailings, bill inserts and newspaper and television advertisements.
“I think people are definitely aware,” Haroutunian said.
Still, some residents have needed more motivation than others, officials said.
The Crescenta Valley Water District has sent out more than 500 “courtesy letters” to residents who have been spotted breaking the new water rules, Erdman said.
Officials attribute the majority of the reductions to decreased outdoor irrigation, but say that indoor efforts, such as the installation of low-flow water appliances and fixtures, have also helped.
“That’s a permanent change that saves water every time you use the fixture,” Erdman said.
Residents across the region have complained that the restrictions do not allow enough irrigation to keep lawns green. Erdman acknowledged an increase in brown lawns, but said the district encourages residents to take advantage of a rebate program that rewards residents who replace water-guzzling grass with drought-tolerant options or artificial turf.
“We’ve had pretty good response to our rebate program,” he said.
Meanwhile, Burbank and Glendale officials have said three days a week is enough to maintain landscaping, but also encourage swapping grass for California-native plants.
“You’re not going to kill your landscaping or your lawn,” Mace said.#
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2009/08/28/politics/gnp-conservation082809.1.txt
Wasting disease: Mayor's water faux pas an example of "do as I say, not as I do"
L.A. Daily News-8/27/09
Editorial
No doubt all 680,000 of the city's water customers were not surprised to learn this week that, even while he was warning us to comply with strict water rules, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's own water sprinklers were operating on restricted days.
After all, we're getting used to the hypocrisy of political leaders whose private actions don't mirror their public pronouncements. It's how state legislators could rationalize cutting the state budget so deeply that eager students were cut out of classes and prisoners will likely be released from prisons, yet still give raises to their political aides.
Still, the mayor gets some credit for owning up Wednesday to the violations of tough watering restrictions at his Getty House mansion (although, after getting caught on a TV camera, there was little use denying it). Villaraigosa conceded that a "glitch" in his automatic lawn irrigation system was soaking his lawn on nights when he shouldn't be watering.
And even though he didn't actually attend to the watering himself - the Department of Recreation and Parks takes care of the Getty House grounds -- he has seen to it that the "glitch" has been fixed.
It always our gladdens the heart to see the high and mighty brought low, at least to the level of regular folks, and confess a mistake.
On the other hand, although he wasn't a good model in this case, the mayor's lawbreaking could be a good thing.
It's a reminder that we are in the middle of a water shortage that will likely become the norm, and that not even the rich and powerful can ignore it. This is the third year we have less water available, and no one knows how long this current drought will last. The way this state keeps building, it's a good bet that stricter water usage is the new wave of the future.
As such, the city had good reason to adopt strict water-use regulations. At the beginning of June the city imposed mandatory water conservation by restricting sprinkler use to two days a week, Monday and Thursday. And even on those days, no watering between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., no hosing down of driveways, requiring that all leaks by fixed and only using hoses that have a shutoff nozzle for hand watering.
Water rates were increased to shortage year rates that put a higher cost on those who use more water.
All in all, the system has been working well. The mayor said on Wednesday - when he confessed to being a water waster - that customer water use had dropped 17 percent in July compared to the same month in the previous year. That's even with scofflaws such as the mayor and that neighbor we all have who runs the sprinklers on his or her own schedule - not the city's.
Hurray for us.
We'll have to do better in the long run, though. It's probably time that Southern Californians admitted that we live in a semi-arid area. Our pretty lawn grasses don't thrive here without intense watering -- a luxury we can no longer afford. Most of our plants and trees don't belong here in the low desert, either.
The nefarious watering at the mayor's home is repeated daily throughout the city at many homes. Hosing off driveways and sidewalks is still common in most neighborhoods.
Old habits and practices are hard to break, but it will have to happen, and not because the city has water police handing out tickets and warnings. It will have to happen because we don't know when the rains will come back.
In fact, if Villaraigosa wants to make up for being a poor initial example on water conservation, he ought to consider exemplifying long-term water saving strategies. For starters, he can tear out the lawns of Getty House altogether and replace them with colorful, fragrant and drought-tolerant native plants.#
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_13217787?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
It's Just That Simple: What can we do to conserve water?
Hanford Sentinel-8/27/09
By Kathleen Coates
Opinion
California's drought is on everybody's mind. But is anyone really doing anything much on a personal level to save water?
The only thing I hear about is "the water police" warning people to sprinkle their lawns on their designated days. But what else should we be doing to help ourselves and the farmers?
Back in 1976 and 1977 there was a terrible drought in California. In the summer of 1976, I was waitressing on Catalina Island during college.
The drought hurt the island even more than other parts of the state, because it had limited sources of water. So we had to ask customers if they wanted a glass of water, rather than automatically giving it to them, only to have it thrown away because they ordered iced tea and didn't drink it.
We explained there was a drought on and the town of Avalon was severely affected. Most people said they would go without or said they wanted it and drank it. A few demanded it, then let it go to waste, sadly.
Back at college that fall, I lived in a student co-op at UC Berkeley.
And believe me, we knew there was a drought on and we did something about it! We were told we needed to turn off the water while we were soaping up in the shower AND to take buckets in with us. The buckets would be used to flush the toilets or to water plants.
I was a budding journalism student then, and I did a story talking to the co-ops and other student groups about the importance of saving water and what they were doing about it. I recall someone I talked to saying the saddest loss of water was the dripping faucet.
Later as a reporter in Southern California in the 1990s, I recall writing about water conservation when there were more drought years. Of course I was working in "green" Santa Monica, but at that time the xeriscape front lawn, with native plants and cacti, was becoming a hot trend.
They had a city employee whose job it was to design a public information campaign to increase water-conservation awareness and go out to homes and distribute low-flow showerheads and other devices.
Fast forward to today. We went to dinner at a popular Mexican restaurant the other night. We ordered iced tea. They also brought us water with lemon without asking if we wanted it. I noticed bus boys clearing patrons' tables, taking full or almost-full glasses of water to the kitchen to be dumped.
I wonder where the public awareness campaigns are now in the Valley? We need to conserve every drop!
What am I doing to conserve water? Well, I don't let the water run when I'm brushing my teeth. I frequently close the faucet when I'm washing dishes. I've started turning off the water in the shower while shampooing. Maybe next I'll bring in a bucket!#
Kathleen Coates is managing editor/online at The Sentinel.
http://hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2009/08/27/opinion/doc4a96cca228384628446827.txt
Water-Wise Tip: Rainwater
Contra Costa Times-8/28/09
By Joan Morris
With California suffering from drought conditions, the Contra Costa Water District offers weekly tips on using water wisely.
CCWD is a sponsor of educational programs at The Ruth Bancroft Garden, 1552 Bancroft Road, Walnut Creek. The next program in the 2009 Workshop Series, "Harvesting Rainwater and Greywater," is scheduled for 10 a.m.-noon Sept. 12. The presenter will be Laura Allen, and participants will learn how to properly catch and reuse rainwater and reuse water from your household.
There are three ways to register. Online, go to www.tinyurl.com/RBGworkshops. For fax or mail, first fill out the registration form at www.ruthbancroftgarden.org. To register by phone, call Karen at 925-944-9352.
For more drought survival tips, go to www.ccwater.com/conserve. For questions on the drought management program or your water allocation, call the Drought Help Line at 925-688-8009, or contact your local provider.#
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