Official: We'll 'Do All We Can' to Comply with Governor's Water Order

By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

Gov. Jerry Brown’s order this week that water-saving measures be implemented throughout the state as the four-year drought shows no signs of letting up comes as no surprise and dovetails with efforts already underway in Riverside County, officials from inland water agencies said.

“We understand the stakes. This is certainly a dire situation,” Eastern Municipal Water District spokesman Kevin Pearson told City News Service. “We don’t know when this drought is going to end.”

Pearson said members of the Perris-based EMWD’s Board of Directors will wait to see the “road map” that the California Water Resources Control Board develops based on the governor’s executive order before taking any steps toward changing local policy.

“There should be a lot more clarity in a week or two,” he said. “We will do all we can to be compliant. Eastern Municipal has been proactive in reducing water use.”

Coachella Valley Water District Manager Jim Barrett said the CVWD stands “ready to provide the assistance needed to meet the higher standard being set by the state.”

Barrett pointed out that the agency’s program to remove unused turf from housing tracts, golf courses and other locations has resulted in 6 million square feet of grass being taken out.

“Of course, we can always do more to work together to help our state navigate through these challenging drought conditions,” he said.

The governor’s order calls for replacing 50 million square feet of natural lawns statewide with “drought-tolerant landscaping” to cut down on outdoor watering.

“We already have guidelines that prohibit any new development, residential or commercial, from using non-functional turf,” Pearson told CNS. “We also have incentives for existing properties to replace non-functional turf. If there’s a strip of grass in front of a building, or a huge grassy berm that’s only there for aesthetics, we have buyback programs that pay property owners for removing that grass, so there’s nothing there to water.”

According to Pearson, 811,000 square feet of turf was removed in 2014 within the water district, which encompasses Hemet, Menifee, Moreno Valley, San Jacinto, parts of Temecula Valley and Winchester. Pearson said ratepayers can receive up to $2 for every square foot of turf removed.

“We’re going to be a little more aggressive in identifying prospects in our service area,” he said. “We’ve done a significant amount, but there’s more to do.”

Pearson said customers’ water charges are tiered, increasing as usage rates rise.

“It’s an allocation-based structure, and our customers typically respond to pricing signals,” he said, adding that the governor’s order may lead to another tier change to encourage lower consumption.

Desert Water Agency Manager Dave Luker said the Palm Springs-based utility has adhered to the provisions established under the governor’s January 2014 emergency drought proclamation, which were recently extended and amplified by the Water Resources Control Board.

“Desert Water Agency is taking this drought very seriously, and we are working hard with customers to reduce water use,” Luker said.

Many inland water agencies purchase supplies from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. MWD Chairman Randy Record, a Riverside County resident, warned last month that allocations to its 26 member agencies will be cut again this year due to the drought. The MWD board meets next on April 14.

Brown’s directive calls for a 25 percent reduction in water consumption statewide. In addition to replacing lawns, the governor’s executive order proposes:

• 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 encourages water agencies to adjust rates in support of conservation and will require agencies and agricultural operations to meet more stringent water usage reporting standards.

On the side of government efficiency, Brown’s order aims to simplify and shorten the time and effort spent preparing water-related infrastructure projects, according to the governor’s office.

California Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, was generally supportive of the governor’s action, but emphasized the need for a “bipartisan spirit” in hammering out regulations.

“This crisis should not be manipulated to impose new emergency powers that would violate the personal and constitutional rights of California families,” Huff said.

Brown issued his order after joining Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin for a survey of the Phillips snow course in the Sierra Nevada mountains. For the first time, in 75 years of early-April measurements, there was no snow at the 6,800-foot level, according to the DWR.

Statewide electronic monitors show the state’s snowpack, which supplies roughly 30 percent of California’s fresh water, has 1.4 inches of water content -- 5 percent of the historical average.

“Today we are standing on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow,” Brown said. “This historic drought demands unprecedented action.”

(Image via Shutterstock)