Comment From CA Water Board To 50 Gallons of Water Per Person/Day

Article Source: San Bruno Patch Mayor Robert Riechel

Previously I posted an article taken from the California legislature about a bill just signed by Governor Brown that stated that in the future Californian’s could be limited to 50 Gallons of Water Use Inside Per Person Per Day.

Here is the link to one of my posts:

https://patch.com/california/sanbruno/coming-limit-50-gallons-water-person-day-0

Here is how I started that article:

Article Source: California Legislature

This bill AB1668 was just signed by outgoing CA Governor Brown and will not take effect for a few years.

Could YOU get by with each person living in your home allowed only 50 gallons of water per day?

Estimates are approximately 40 gallons per load of laundry.

The fine is listed to be $1,000.00 per day for going over.

Read the final bill and then if YOU have questions, contact your California legislator and find out how he/she voted and why.

I then inserted the wording of California Assembly Bill 1668 as taken from the California Assembly web page and I bolded a few specific passages – one stating the 50 gallons per day per person for inside use and another about a $1,000.00 per day fine.

I received the following from Mr. George N. Kostyrko, Director, Office of Public Affairs, State Water Resources Control Board - , printed below unedited and in its entirety.

Mr. Reichel:

We appreciate your interest in the water efficiency legislation, signed into law by the Governor on May 31.

We disagree with your interpretation and false statements and request a correction, or at least a link to some of the information we have available that explains what the law is asking state and local agencies to do together, to more efficiently use the drinking water quality grade of water delivered to nearly every household in the state.

Please consider putting a link to our fact sheet on the new laws for your readership (see below).

https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/publications_forms/publications/factsheets/docs/water_efficiency_bill_factsheet.pdf

Your headlines and the lead in of your article, or opinion piece? are not accurate and really provide a disservice to the Patch readership. Most importantly, it appears to ignore the amazing water conservation efforts of your fellow citizens in your City of San Bruno!

No homeowners will be hounded or fined for using more than 55 gallons per person per day. The water agencies are being asked to put together a budget and stick to it, Just like you might be at home with your family finances. ONLY if a water agency fails to either establish a budget, or stick to it, could they face the risk of fines. However, fines are not the intended outcome. Increased water efficiency is. That is what law says.

Californian’s continue to voluntarily save water nearly two years after one of the worst droughts in 500 years (based on tree ring records) ended. In May 2018, urban water users in California conserved more than 20 percent of their water use, as compared to the same month in 2013, when the state was in a drought, but we didn’t know it yet.

See Fact Sheet here: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/docs/2018july/fs071018.pdf

The state establishes water use by hydrologic region. Not a one size fits all approach, which your article appears to infer. So, some regions of the state will need to establish much larger water budgets than others – such as the temperate nine-county bay area region.

More than 50 percent (except for areas that are dryer and with homes having large grassy areas, in which a majority of water use is for outdoor use) of water use for the typical home is used out of doors. So the only numbers we have right now is both indoor and outdoor water use combined. If you visit this, site you can see monthly water use for nearly every community in the state, going back nearly five years.

https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/conservation_reporting.html

The San Francisco hydrologic region (which includes San Bruno) had a combined indoor and outdoor combined RPCD of 71 gallons per person per day. According to the fact sheet above, your hydrologic region hit a low of 65.9 gallons per person per day for indoor and outdoor water use.

While we don’t have a reliable way to establish an indoor water standard, that is exactly what the new laws direct the state water board and other water focused industry (like water agencies) to try and establish. Your article failed to mention that. Until that way of accurately measuring indoor water use is better established, we can all continue to hope that California residents continue to save water voluntarily tomorrow, as they have so far in 2018.

As you may know, San Bruno, was a state leader in per capita water savings during the worst of the drought. It continues to be, if you look at page 4 of this fact database here

https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/docs/2018july/supplierconservation_071018.pdf

You will see your city used on average 46 gallons per person per day in May 2018 – Almost two years after the drought ended!

On a final note, it is our suspicion, that won’t be borne out until we find a reliable way to measure indoor water use, that for the most part, residents in California already are using 55 gallons per person, per day already for indoor use only or even less in some areas, like the Coastal areas. In the case of the Bay Area and other coastal regions, that number for indoor and outdoor water use combined -- was (on a regular basis) well below just the indoor water use standard of 55 gallons per person per day, as proposed by the new law.

Water efficiency mandates in both construction and new water based appliances for the 25 years have had the net effect of reducing indoor water use dramatically.

Thank you for your consideration in consider out modest request for a request or additional clarification.

We do appreciate your interest in this issue.

I invite you to contact me at any time, if you have questions or concerns about how water use is measured, and in time, used in the State of California.

Sincerely,

George N. Kostyrko

Director,

Office of Public Affairs

State Water Resources Control Board

Direct: 916-341-7365

Mobile: removed

=

Robert Riechel

Send your articles and photos to:

E=Mail: SanBrunoPatch.Robert@Yahoo.com

WEB: http://SanBrunoPatch.com

My Posts: http://patch.com/users/robert-riechel

Photo Credit: CA State Water Resources Control Board

Source Credit: San Bruno Patch Contributor Robert Riechel

CLICK on link below to Subscribe to News Alerts and a Daily Email Newsletter for San Bruno Patch

http://link.patch.com/join/3-0-subscribe?list=US_CA_SANBRUNO_282

#SanBrunoPatch

What is Patch?

Patch is an independent U.S. local news and information platform. We operate in over a thousand hyperlocal locations in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.. We're a community-specific news, information and engagement network driven by passionate and experienced media professionals.

Want to get involved?

Here's what you can do:

· Contribute content! Patch welcomes and encourages community members to post directly to the site by signing up using My Patch

· Keep up with news and events by subscribing to your local Patch updates

· Learn more about local businesses and the people behind them

· Participate in discussions

CLICK on link below to Subscribe to News Alerts and a Daily Email Newsletter for San Bruno Patch

http://link.patch.com/join/3-0-subscribe?list=US_CA_SANBRUNO_282

#SanBrunoPatch