Calabasas, You May Have To Cut Back On Water Usage... Again

CALABASAS, CA — Calabasas may see increased water use restrictions as California potentially enters a third year of drought.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide drought emergency Tuesday. The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District will consider escalating their drought response and declaring a local drought emergency at their Nov. 2 board meeting.

The district's water shortage contingency plan has four stages. At the Nov. 2 meeting, they will consider a move to the third stage, which will allow for tighter restrictions on water use and stricter regulation, said Michael McNutt, Public Affairs and Communications Manager for the district. Additionally, the district will consider declaring a local drought emergency to localize Newsom's declaration Tuesday.

Water situation is going from bad to worse. @LVMWD will look at declaring a local drought emergency at its next Board meeting in two weeks. That could mean mandatory water cutbacks, starting with landscape watering. LVMWD supplied this pic of Lake Oroville from July '21. pic.twitter.com/o1FR2WPs4E
— City of Calabasas (@CityofCalabasas) October" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/CityofCala... 19, 2021

The district, which covers Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Hidden Hills, relies almost exclusively on imported water. This water is allocated to the region by the State Water Project, which has already reduced their initial water allocations for the year as the water level in some state reserves hits record lows.

McNutt said the allocation could go even further down, and the district could end up with a 0 percent allocation. This would mean the city receives only an essential amount of water for public health and lifestyle with no additional water for outdoor use like tending ornamental gardens or turf maintenance, McNutt said.

Outdoor water use makes up around 70 percent of the district's water use, according to a news release from the district. This is where residents will have to cut back most significantly, and stage three will allow for tighter restrictions, such as a limit on how many days a week residents can use water outside.

The move to stage three will also allow for tighter regulation on water use. To date, McNutt explained, the district has been allowing for self-monitoring. Moving forward the response will escalate violation consequences from a warning to a potential fine. Violations of water use restrictions could result in fines up to $500 and termination or restriction of water service after five violations in 12 months.

The water district moved to stage two on July 20, but the district ended up increasing water use in September compared to September 2020. McNutt attributes some of this to civic fatigue, especially given the many pandemic rules and restrictions residents have adapted to.