Water district urges residents to conserve

Even as rainstorms pounded Ventura County last month, local water districts urged residents to conserve water because resources are still scarce and quotas set by suppliers in 2009 are still in effect.

District officials have delivered a warning saying local residents could pay heavy fines if those who’ve been exceeding their allocations continue to do so in coming months.

“We’re not out of the woods simply because we’ve had a week’s worth of decent rainfall,” said Eric Bergh, manager of resources for Calleguas Municipal Water District.

“Demand has dropped, so we’ll make up some ground this month, but we don’t want folks to become complacent. If the wet cycle doesn’t continue, we’ll enter a dry phase and demand will creep up.”

Calleguas imports most of its water from Northern California via the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies fresh water to 26 agencies in this part of the state. In July 2009, MWD directed all water agencies to curtail water consumption by 15 percent within a year to protect a water supply that’s been diminished by drought and new environmental regulations.

Agencies that fail to comply could be penalized monetarily starting in August.

Bergh said that ideally Calleguas should achieve a 20 percent reduction in water use to have a good buffer against fines.

Yet several local agencies can’t even meet the mandated 15 percent target because customers aren’t cutting back as much as they should.

“Collectively right now, we’re in the 12-13 percent range, so we may not be able to avoid the penalties unless customers do more to conserve water,” Bergh said.

According to the Ventura County Water and Sanitation Department, residents in Bell Canyon, Lake Sherwood, Moorpark and Somis are still exceeding their allocations.

The department recently warned residents that they could pay hundreds of dollars more for imported water if they continue that practice in coming months.

“We’re hoping our customers will respond positively to the notice and reduce their consumption to help us meet the 15 percent reduction goal,” said Anne Dana, staff services manager for the Water and Sanitation Department. 

“We’re cautiously optimistic that we can avoid the penalties. However, if there are penalties, they will have to be collected from our customers,” she said.

With about six months remaining in this fiscal year, customers can still avert fines if they make a concerted effort to reduce consumption, Dana said.   Outside of agricultural use, 70 percent of the water supplied to urban areas throughout the region is used on outdoor landscaping. That’s where the greatest opportunity for water reduction lies, she said.