Water waste may have a price tag

Despite its April 1 date, Gov. Brown’s executive order on urban water rationing was no joke. The unfunny part might come when the city starts issuing citations and levying fines, steps it has not yet taken but is authorized to do.

According to Public Works Director Dan Takasugi, the City Municipal Code, section 13.10.070, allows for infraction penalties of $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense, and $300 for the third and subsequent offenses.

“Thus far, no administrative fines have been levied on the current Stage 2 water conservation restrictions,” said Takasugi.

According to last weekend’s release of revised conservation standards from the state Water Resources Control Board, Sonoma is one of many communities now faced with the challenge of coming up with still more water savings – amounting to another 13 percent reduction in the next year, along with the 15 percent the city has already achieved.

Takasugi pointed out that the revised standards are, at this point, recommendations and not law. “There’s a lot of public hearings and input that has to go into that first,” he said.

“But that would be a heavy burden – where would it come from? We’d just have to ask customers to conserve more, and most of it would come from cutbacks in outdoor irrigation.”

Sonoma water users are supposed to have been following a series of Stage 2 water conservation measures which, among other things, prohibit hosing off your driveway or sidewalks, filling your swimming pool, and watering your lawn only two days a week, between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. “We have the strictest outdoor irrigation restriction in the county – two days a week,” said Takasugi. “Nobody else is at two days a week.”

Newly added by the City Council on Monday are restrictions on outside irrigation 48 hours after measurable rainfall and requiring, not recommending, that restaurants only serve water upon customer request. New tabletop tent reminders are being distributed to area restaurants with this message.

The city’s first line of communication remains using door hanger “warnings” when they notice possible violations. Indications of water overuse include runoff from over-watering, and Sonoma Police as well as Public Works employees keep an eye out for runoff during their nighttime rounds, according to Sgt. Spencer Crum.

The door hangers include a notice that the City may order the installation of a flow-restricting device, or even terminate water service and impose fines up to $300.

“Most people give their plants too much water,” said biologist Caitlin Cornwall, a research program manager at Sonoma Ecology Center. “Automatic irrigation systems usually use far more water than systems that are turned on manually, which in turn use more water than hand-watering by hose.”

But as public awareness of water waste increases, some homeowners and renters are complaining about wet sidewalks, midday watering and what their neighbors are doing wrong.

Takasugi take a cautionary approach. “We do not want to make this into a neighbor-versus-neighbor issue,” he said. “Most door hangers that we set out are from our staff observations, not complaints.”

If someone notices a potential violation of the water conservation restrictions, Takasugi suggests they call the city’s Water Conservation Program, headed by Matt Brett, at 933-2247; or the Public Works Department at 933-3332.

Another hurdle for public water conservation policy was erected a week ago, when an appeals court in San Juan Capistrano ruled that water districts cannot charge increased rates for greater water usage unless they can prove the tiers are based on service cost, and not penalties.

However, Dan Muelrath of the Valley of the Moon Water District doesn’t think it will affect their rate structure.

“The district does incur extra costs when supplying customers with additional units of water,” he wrote to the Index-Tribune in an email. “Some of these costs include but are not limited to: larger water main pipes, additional booster pumps, larger reservoir tanks, etc.”

Takasugi also thinks the city dodges the ruling, which is based on the 1996 prohibition against the government making a profit from services.

“Everybody has the same base rate, that’s the key,” he said. “Tier one is lower than the base rate, tier four is higher than the base rate. It all balances out.”