Board Talks Water Conservation Strategies in Riverside County

By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

The Board of Supervisors Tuesday scheduled a May 27 brainstorming session with representatives from regional water agencies to iron out how Riverside County can meet the state’s drought-related water conservation mandates and establish long-range plans for reducing public consumption well into the future.

“It’s not raining enough, and we don’t have enough water,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Marion Ashley said. “Is this a permanent paradigm, or is it temporary? I don’t know. But whatever it is, we have to tackle it head-on.”

On a 5-0 vote, the board scheduled a three-hour workshop that will feature representatives from the Eastern and Western Municipal Water Districts, as well as the Desert Water Agency and other utilities from the central and eastern portions of the county.

“We have to constantly reassess (water management),” said Supervisor John Benoit, who represents the Coachella Valley and Blythe. “There’s always room for improvement and more belt-tightening. But we’re making some great strides.”

The supervisor said he would not be able to attend the May 27 meeting because it conflicts with previously scheduled functions, and he sought to have the workshop scheduled on another day. But Ashley declined, saying there was no time to wait.

Temecula resident Paul Jacobs criticized the timing in general, telling the board that, if anything, the meeting should be moved up to the end of this month, instead of May, due to the urgent nature of the situation.

“Action is needed now, not a month and a half from now,” Jacobs said. “We’re all in this together. The county is leading from behind on the drought.”

Ashley justified the delay by explaining that inland water agencies needed time to reorder their priorities and put new policies into effect in response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s April 1 executive orders, as well as the allocation decisions announced by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The MWD is the wholesale supplier of fresh water stocks to more than two-dozen agencies, and its board voted today to cut by 15 percent the amount of water delivered to its member agencies.

“The water agencies are at the forefront of this,” Ashley said. “They’re the ones who regulate. We have to follow their lead.”

The May meeting will focus generally on developing new irrigation and landscaping standards, reducing consumption at county-owned and operated facilities and spreading the word about the need for county residents to cut back, he said.

“I live in a gated community. That’s where I’m spending my golden years,” the chairman told City News Service on Monday. “I look around, and there are strips of grass everywhere. That’s the way it is throughout the county. There are hundreds of homeowners’ associations. We’ve got to convince them that desert landscaping is the way to go because most water use is outside the home.”

Ashley said water agencies should redouble efforts to remind consumers that “simple things can make a difference.”

“This is serious business. When you’re taking a shower, turn off the spigot while you’re soaping up. When you’re brushing your teeth, don’t stand there with the water running; turn it on after you’re ready to rinse,” he said.

Brown’s executive orders call for a 25 percent cut in statewide water consumption -- compared to 2013 levels -- over the ensuing 10 months.

The governor directed that 50 million square feet of natural lawns be replaced with “drought-tolerant landscaping” to scale back outdoor watering, which accounts for the largest drain on water supplies. He also called for:

• restrictions on the amount of water used to maintain campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other “large landscapes”
• a temporary consumer rebate program to encourage the replacement of inefficient appliances
• a prohibition against irrigation systems that rely on potable water for new developments, with the exception of drip irrigation systems
• a ban on watering “ornamental grass” on public street medians

The governor’s decree encouraged water agencies to adjust rates in support of conservation and will require agencies and agricultural operations to meet more stringent water usage reporting standards.

The executive action came a little over a year after Brown declared a drought state of emergency. The California Water Resources Control Board recently expanded regulations related to the governor’s proclamation, including fining water users for irrigating in a way that creates runoff and prohibiting any type of outdoor watering within 48 hours of measurable rainfall.

Most inland water agencies already have the type of incentives announced by the governor, offering consumer rebates for the removal of unused turf to reduce outdoor watering and charging customers for consumption based on a tiered system, with rates rising in line with usage.

(IMAGE via Shutterstock)