Delta town grapples with water cutbacks
Scott Cramer says he’s learned his lesson about water conservation. The hard way. And now his town is likely to learn a few more like he did, thanks, unfortunately, to the drought.
The 52-year-old Discovery Bay resident recently ran his sprinklers when he wasn’t supposed to, according to the new drought ordinance in this quiet stretch of Contra Costa County that backs up to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. So it wasn’t really a surprise when he came home from work the other day to find unhappy news — a yellow notice on his garage door threatening a fine up to $500.
“I knew someone might say something,” said Cramer, who
moved to the waterfront community for an affordable home near a boat dock with a nice yard to enjoy. “When I was younger, I might have ignored the warning. But the older you get, the more honest you become.”
There are likely to be a lot more notices on garages across the state. With Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration expected to march out mandatory water cuts for the first time in California history, communities are starting to get serious about saving water — setting limits on outdoor irrigation, stepping up enforcement and instituting higher rates for those who exceed household consumption targets.
But few will have to go as far as Discovery Bay.
36 percent cut
The community, which lives up to the real estate ads that boast of balmy weather and lush riverside properties with pools and palm trees, is among the region’s biggest water guzzlers. As such, it’s one of three in the Bay Area headed for the most stringent water reduction on the state’s sliding scale of cuts: a 36 percent drop, compared with 2013 consumption.
That’s a tough goal, say leaders and residents alike.
“People in Discovery Bay see water in their backyards, and there’s this perception that the water is always here,” said Rick Howard, general manager of the community services district that runs the town of 14,000. “While our conservation numbers have been pretty good lately, at the end of the day we have to do a lot more.”
The community is one of few in the region that doesn’t meter water use at most of its homes, complicating the effort to cut back. Residents have long resisted being charged for the amount they consume, preferring the town’s flat fee of about $500 annually, depending on lot size, for whatever they use. The town’s supply comes from wells.
“I’m on a fixed income, and I don’t know if I could afford” to pay more, said recently retired Jerry Nicolaisen, 69. He’s been told that one day his water use will be metered, and he worries that will push up his bill. “If they have to put in a meter, they have to. I understand. But I’m in no hurry for that.”
Under the proposed mandatory water cuts expected to be approved Tuesday by the State Water Resources Control Board, the town— like all communities across California— would have to hit its water reduction goal starting in June or risk having to pay a fine of $10,000 a day.
With California in a fourth year of drought, the regulation, is intended to help the state meet the governor’s call for a 25 percent drop in urban water use.
Under the board’s plan, California’s 400 largest retail water agencies must reduce consumption 4 to 36 percent from 2013 levels. Places that have historically used more will be required to cut more.
Savings potential
Bigger guzzlers have more potential for savings, state officials reason, with the most progress expected to be made with outdoor irrigation.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which provides water to residents in the city, has been one of the state’s lowest per capita water consumers and accordingly faces just an 8 percent reduction. That’s the second-lowest level on the state’s nine tiers of cuts. City utility officials expect to achieve their target by simply asking residents to conserve more.
The lowest tier, 4 percent, is reserved for water agencies that can show that they have a rare surplus of water.
The city of Hillsborough and the private California Water Service Bear Gulch district, which serves Atherton and Woodside, are alongside Discovery Bay and 82 other water suppliers statewide facing a 36 percent cut.
Hillsborough has so far chosen to rely mostly on existing state-ordered outdoor watering restrictions, along with voluntary cutbacks, to meet conservation targets. California Water Service is seeking approval from the state — which it needs as a private utility — to limit its Peninsula customers to 36 percent less water than what they used in 2013, and make those who exceed the allocation pay roughly double the regular water rate.
Moving fast
Discovery Bay is also scrambling to meet the state target.
Recently, the unincorporated town’s board agreed to speed up installation of water meters in the 60 percent of homes that don’t have them, Howard said. Metering is something board members have been meaning to do to encourage efficient water use, and state law will require it by 2025, but cost and residents’ concern have delayed the effort, Howard added.
Then there are the outdoor watering restrictions. Under the town’s drought ordinance, irrigation is limited to just two days a week, before 1 p.m and after 7 p.m., with violators subject to penalties of $25 to $500. Town leaders are thinking about assigning a fulltime staffer to enforce the rule.
“Over the course of a week, someone can drive every single street here,” Howard said.
Discovery Bay has also scaled back watering at parks — despite calls from a least one resident who wondered why the manicured lawn at the Discovery Bay welcome sign had begun to turn yellow.
Elsewhere, placards distributed by town grounds crews read, “Brown is the new green,” though many stand on grassy plots that are yet to fade.
“Most people are starting to do their part to cut back,” said Tim Pellaton, who manages Delta RV and Boat Storage, where motor craft ranging from small aluminum boats to halfmillion dollar RVs sit idle. “But when you have people who have a lot of money, they don’t care what they get charged or penalized. They’ll pay it.
“Then there are people like me,” he said. “I can’t afford the fines.”