Residents in Santa Clara County could face fines of up to $500 — and in extreme cases, $10,000 — for wasting water, under new drought rules approved Tuesday afternoon that are among the toughest of any urban area in California.
Citing the worsening drought, dwindling local water supplies and residents’ failure to hit conservation targets, the board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, a government agency based in San Jose that serves as the wholesale water provider to 2 million residents, voted unanimously to set up an enforcement program to warn, and then fine, property owners who are violating outdoor watering rules.
“This is a direction we have never taken in our history,” said Rick Callender, CEO of the district. “But never in history have our conditions been as dire as they are now.”
The new rules take effect June 1, but depend largely on citizen complaints and very few “water cops” to investigate them.
Under the rules, residents who see water being wasted can notify the district of the address and date of incident by calling 408-630-2000, or emailing WaterWise@valleywater.org, or reporting online at www.valleywater.org/droughtsaving-water/report-water-waste.
Common violations include homeowners or businesses who water lawns more than twice a week, who water between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. when evaporation is highest, and who irrigate so much that water flows into the sidewalk or street.
On a first violation, the district will send the property owner a letter. If there is another violation two weeks or more later, after the property owner has had time to correct the problem, the district will send out a staff member to discuss the case with the resident, or leave a door hanger about the rules and fines.
On the third violation, the district can issue a fine of $100, followed by $250 for the fourth and $500 for the fifth.
In extreme cases, such as where a property owner is dramatically overwatering and openly refusing to follow the rules, the district has the ability to issue a fine of $10,000, with $500 per day penalties until the violation is corrected.
The new plan is not without its challenges, however.
Asked how many “water cops,” or staff members, would be assigned to enforcement, the district said Tuesday it has just three for the entire county, the sixth most populous out of California’s 58 counties. District Spokesman Matt Keller said the agency will hire more “if demand makes it necessary.”
“It’s a token,” said Jay Lund, co-director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “You aren’t going to be reducing water use by enforcement with three people, but by the news of enforcement.”
Also, as part of the plan, the water district will provide the information on violators to 13 cities and private water companies, called retailers, to whom it sells water, so they can help enforce the rules. The retailers send water bills to property owners.
But the largest water retailer in the county, the San Jose Water Company, a private corporation that serves 1 million residents in and around San Jose, said it has no plans to fine anyone. Also, it said it will not share information it receives from the public about water wasters, with the district.
“We do not provide private information on any of our customers to any outside agency,” said San Jose Water Company spokeswoman Sharon Whaley.
Several of the district’s board members on Tuesday suggested that the district make public a list of the biggest water wasters in the county each month, the way that the East Bay Municipal Utility District has done in prior droughts, and plans to do this summer.
When board member Linda LeZotte asked about that, the Santa Clara Valley Water District staff told her that the district doesn’t have that information because it is the wholesaler, not the retail provider. LeZotte said the staff should look into getting that data, since San Jose Water Company declines to make it public.
“If they aren’t willing to do it because they are worried about profits, or whatever, we’ll do it.” LeZotte said.
During the last drought, former San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain, former Safeway Chief Executive Officer Steven Burd, developer Tom Seeno and former Golden State Warrior Adonal Foyle were found in the East Bay to be using thousands of gallons a day at their homes, mostly on massive lawns, and cut use after the embarrassment of being held publicly accountable.
Lund said that Gov. Gavin Newsom could issue an executive order requiring all urban water agencies to make public the list of the 5% of biggest water users every month. Or, he added, the Santa Clara Valley Water District could go to the state Public Utilities Commission and ask it to order San Jose Water Company to provide the district with the information.
“They could say, we need this to increase conservation during a drought emergency,” Lund said.
The problem in Santa Clara County is that the water district’s 10 reservoirs are just 23% full. The district is working to purchase water from Sacramento Valley farmers with senior water rights, as it did last year. But less is available due to the state entering its third summer of drought. Local groundwater supplies are making up the difference, but by next year those could be dangerously low at current pumping levels.
Last June, the district asked all Santa Clara County residents to reduce water use 15% compared to 2019 levels. But since then, they have only cut by 9%, and water use actually increased during the extremely dry months of January, February and March when rains were scarce and homeowners turned up their lawn sprinklers.
“We are in a water crisis,” said John Varela, acting chairman of the district’s board. “Every single one of us. All 2 million people in this county need to adjust your daily water use to improve conservation so we will have water in the future.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com