April 08--California communities with the highest per-capita water consumption will be required to cut water use by as much as 35% over the next year under rules proposed Tuesday by state regulators.
The state water board released a framework that outlines how it plans to enact Gov. Jerry Brown's historic 25% mandatory cut in water use in cities and towns across the state.
The plan sets a water conservation target for about 400 local water agencies. Areas that have low residential water use per capita will have to cut as little as 10%. Those include Santa Cruz, Vernon, East Los Angeles and Seal Beach.
Most communities fall in the 20-25% cut category, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, Santa Ana, San Jose and Anaheim.
The other 135 communities would be required to make a 35% cut. They include a mix of wealthy areas such as Newport Beach, Beverly Hills and the Rancho Sante Fe area of northern San Diego County as well as South Pasadena, Hemet, Redding, Norco, Colton and Bakersfield.
"The gentle nudge is no longer sufficient," said Max Gomberg, the state water board's senior scientist. "We're taking the enforcement piece very seriously."
Agencies that don't comply with the rules can be fined as much as $10,000 a day for noncompliance -- "the ultimate remedy," Gomberg said.
Officials said they measured water use in September 2014 to set the benchmarks. But the state will measure whether each community hits its target by comparing water use over the next year with 2013 levels.
Local officials will have to determine how to reach the governor's water-saving benchmarks.
Per-capita water use varies widely.
Residents in communities such as La Ca Flintridge, Malibu and Palos Verdes used more than 150 gallons of water per capita per day in January. By contrast, Santa Ana used just 38 gallons, and communities in southeast Los Angeles County used less than 45.
Water usage in Los Angeles was 70 gallons per capita per day. But a recent UCLA study examining a decade of Department of Water and Power data showed that, on average, wealthier neighborhoods within the city consumed three times more water than less-affluent ones.
High water use by upscale cities is about more than lifestyle. Such communities tend to have fewer apartments and less-dense housing. The dwellings tend to be larger and include sprawling grounds in need of water.
Faced with dwindling regional reserves and a fourth year of drought, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is expected to vote next week to ration imported water that it supplies to 26 Southland water districts and cities, something the agency has done only twice before.
Local agencies that need more water than the MWD allocation will be required to pay punitive surcharges of up to $2,960 per acre-foot for the extra deliveries.
For purchases well beyond the allocation, that would increase the price of fully treated MWD water by about four times.
