The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week approved water surcharges of up to two times the regular rate for customers in the Antelope Valley, Malibu and Topanga Canyon who fail to cut water use by 30 percent or more to meet new conservation measures.
County officials wanted to triple charges to penalize heavy users, but residents complained that the charges were unfair; some households would have had to cut water use by up to 80 percent. Supervisor Sheila Kuehl (Third District) suggested holding penalties for the first year to a maximum of two times the base water cost.
“There’s a lot of concern…that everything was so sudden,” Kuehl said of resident’s reaction to the strict conservation plan. Some residents said the water-use targets—based on area averages rather than individual household use—were unfair to large families and those who were already working diligently to conserve water. The Department of Public Works said the allocations were designed to target those households using the greatest share of the county’s dwindling supply of water.
If households were asked to cut use based on their own 2013 baseline, water-efficient households would be forced to “…cut from a very low level, which would be almost impossible,” said Adam Ariki, assistant deputy director with the L.A. Department of Water and Power. Ariki said customers could appeal their allocation on the basis of household size and other critical needs. He also said DWP staffers may be able to resolve appeals within 20 days.
Supervisor Mike Antonovich (Fifth District) has suggested that local representatives be appointed to help address some of the issues raised by the plan. The board this week asked staffers to report back in one month on the feasibility of appointing local commissions under board control.
Some county residents have said it would be nearly impossible to reach the mandatory targets. “We’d be thrilled at 32 percent,” said Michelle Lewis, a resident of the Antelope Valley. “The allotments just don’t seem to be fair.”
If California manages it way through one more year of drought like the three previous years, large population centers like Los Angeles and San Diego may face “catastrophic” consequences. That’s the opinion of Rep. Devin Nunes representing the 22nd congressional district who said this week that one more year of dry weather will find “…nobody with anything.”
“It is catastrophic in the San Joaquin Valley,” Nunes said, “but it will also become catastrophic for large population centers. Right now they are down to where they can water their grass twice a week and they had to cut their use to 25 percent.” Nunes explained that the water shortage is “unnoticeable” to residents in large cities in southern California because these areas receive water from not only the California Delta but also two other sources—the Owens River Valley and the Colorado River. Other parts of the state, he said, like the San Joaquin Valley and other rural areas are reliant on ground water which is declining by the day.
“So there’s ground water,” Nunes continued. “You dig deep wells and you pump it out of the ground. That’s what’s allowing us to survive. But it’s going to keep getting worse, and we’re basically at a red line.”
For the first time, California residents rank the drought above jobs or the economy as the state’s most critical issue. A new poll released Thursday conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California also revealed that many residents wish their neighbors were doing more about the drought. The poll was based on a sample of 1,706 respondents. While 39 percent of California residents said the drought was the most important issues facing the state, only 20 percent rated jobs or the economy as the most pressing problem.
“Public concern about the drought is at a record-high level today,” said Mark Baldassare, CEO of the institute. “Most Californians are satisfied with the governor’s actions, but a sizable number say the mandatory water restrictions have not gone far enough.”
