Hope to hose down your driveway one day? It might never happen again.
Even when California’s historic drought finally ends, many of the water conservation rules put in place this year to cope with the emergency may be here to stay.
Earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown and the State Water Resources Control Board passed statewide rules that, among other requirements, banned California residents from watering lawns within 48 hours after measurable rainfall, prohibited washing cars without shutoff nozzles on hoses and forbade restaurants to serve water unless it was requested by customers.
Now as the strongest El Niño conditions in nearly 20 years grow in the Pacific Ocean, increasing chances of big winter storms, state water officials, environmentalists and some local water managers are considering making California’s new water-wasting rules a permanent part of state law, even in wet years.
“It’s just good common sense,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state water board. “It’s good use of a precious resource.”
Marcus said Sunday that the board could act on some of the water-wasting rules as soon as January, continuing them through April while the state waits to see how much rain fills reservoirs this winter and how much snow covers the Sierra Nevada.
Next summer, she said, the board will hear public input and vote on making some or all of the water-wasting rules permanent.
In normal years, much of California — including San Jose, Los Angeles and Fresno — receives about 15 inches of rain a year, the same as Casablanca, Morocco. With population growth and climate change threatening to deplete the state’s snowpack, it only makes sense, environmentalists say, not to allow water wasting again after Californians have done so well conserving during the drought. They also argue it is cheaper to save water than to build new dams.
“Drought or no drought, water-wasting practices are never acceptable, especially in a place like California,” said Sara Aminzadeh, executive director of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, an environmental group based in San Francisco. “We should build on what we have done so far.”
Until this drought, California had almost no statewide water-wasting rules on the books and required cities and private water companies to report only once every five years on how much water their customers were consuming.
But because of the drought, the state water board began requiring monthly reports. Those documents have allowed the public to see which areas are making the most progress on conservation and which are lagging. Last month, the state water board used the data to fine Beverly Hills, Coachella Valley Water District and two other Southern California agencies $61,000 for not conserving enough water.
Marcus said she’s leaning toward making the reporting requirement permanent. Some water leaders agree.
“The more data the better. It’s transparent,” said Gary Kremen, chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Kremen said he also generally supports keeping many of the conservation rules around while building in some flexibility.
“I don’t know about keeping them all in place,” he said. “Let’s see what happens. Let’s see when the drought’s over. We’ve depleted the ATM. And until our groundwater is recharged, the reservoirs are back in place and the snowpack is back, it’s too early to relax the rules.”
Another key drought deadline is coming soon.
On April 1, Brown signed an executive order requiring all cities, water districts and private water companies in California to cut water use 25 percent, compared to 2013 levels.
The rules forced most local water agencies to limit when people can water lawns, and they also set higher prices for water use over certain levels. But the rules expire Feb. 13. With no idea when the drought will end, the state water board is holding a public hearing Dec. 7 on how to continue them or change them. One option is to set temporary rules in January continuing the rules and then to alter them after April, when it becomes clearer how much rain and snow the state received.
Some agencies, particularly in Southern California, are asking for changes. San Diego is lobbying to receive credit for building a desalination plant. Orange County and other warmer areas are asking for more generous state limitations than areas in Northern California, on the grounds that weather is hotter and drier in the Southern part of the state.
Also, water companies and cities have lost millions of dollars in revenue by selling less water.
“I would like the water board to let us catch our breath and get our revenues and our costs back into alignment — and allow our customers to catch their breath,” said Jack Hawks, executive director of the California Water Association, which represents private water companies. “They are getting bombarded with everything — more appeals for conservation, along with penalties and surcharges.”
But advocates of continuing the conservation rules — and maybe even some mandatory water savings targets after the drought is over — say this is the new normal.
“California’s water management challenges won’t end when the drought ends,” said Heather Cooley, director of water programs for the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit research center in Oakland. “The drought has simply highlighted some of the key issues and gives us a glimpse of a future with more people and a more variable climate. We must continue to promote the long-term efficient use of the state’s water.”
Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN.
