Drought Forces City To Put Water Use Restrictions In Place

By Kurt Helin
Editor

Pulling out a garden hose and washing off the sidewalk in front of a home or business is now forbidden in Long Beach. So is watering a home’s lawn more than three days a week.

Those are just two of the restrictions that go into place on Friday concerning water usage in Long Beach after the Board of Water Commissioners voted unanimously last week to declare an “Imminent Water Supply Shortage.”

The step was needed because water storage levels in California are at the lowest levels in 14 years following a record dry winter in 2006-07, officials said. In addition, a judge’s recent ruling in Fresno to protect the Delta smelt will reduce the amount of water pumped out of the Sacramento Delta and headed to Southern California, and Long Beach.

“I’m persuaded by the severity of the drought and not the judge’s ruling,” said commissioner Thomas Allen.

What this means for water consumers is some mandatory restrictions on water usage. Those restrictions are:

• Limiting lawn watering to Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Any watering must be done between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. and cannot last longer than 10 minutes

• People cannot wash down driveways, sidewalks, parking areas, patios or other outdoor areas with water from a hose. However, businesses (and homeowners) can use pressurized machines such as a “water broom” to clean sidewalks and walkways in front of their establishment, so long as those machines are designed to reduce water usage.

• Restaurants can only serve water upon request. This is due less to the amount of water drank than the much larger amount of water used to wash the dirty glass.

• Overwatering lawns to the point there is runoff is illegal.

Catching violators of the watering program largely will be complaint-driven, said Kevin Wattier, general manager of the Water Department.

Early violations would generate a letter reminding homeowners of the restrictions and asking them to comply. However, upon a third notice they can be given a “water charge” fine.

The goal is not to be punitive but rather create a community spirit where people are encouraged to conserve, said Ryan J. Alsop, director of government and public affairs for Long Beach Water. The goal is to get out the message that everyone has to pitch in.

“We in this community can no longer tolerate certain types of water uses,” Alsop said during the Water Commission meeting. “We can no longer tolerate wasting water.”

There is no doubt that Long Beach and all of Southern California is facing a water shortage, officials said. In fact, the California legislature was just called into a special session by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and one of the two issues before them is water issues in the state.

As of last week, the amount of potable water stored in California reservoirs for use by homes and farms fell to about 6 million acre feet, the lowest levels since the drought years of the early 1990s, the commission was told by Anatole Falagan, deputy general manager of business for Long Beach Water.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger ruled that the State Water Project was in violation of the federal endangered species acts because it is threatening the existence of the Delta smelt. The judge’s detailed ruling will limit how much water can be pumped out of the Sacramento Delta, the place that provides more than half of the water coming to Southern California, including 40% of the water used in Long Beach.

Because of the way the ruling is set up (and it won’t be in place formally until Oct. 22), nobody is sure how much water will be lost from the Delta, Wattier said.

However, in an average year he said it likely would mean a 30% reduction, or enough water for 2 million people for a year.

Long Beach is the first city is the state to take the step of mandating reduced water use, although a host of cities in both the Bay Area and Southern California are considering similar measures.

While officials are pushing conservation, the water situation in the Southland is still better than it was during the drought in the early 1990s, officials said. The Metropolitan Water District does have a lot of water in “ground storage” (including under Long Beach) it can tap into for emergencies. However, Wattier said, he hopes it doesn’t come to that.