KATHLEEN RONAYNE / Associated Press
In an affluent enclave in the Santa Monica Mountains that’s a celebrity haven, residents now face more aggressive consequences for water wastage — including the risk of having their water flow slowed to a trickle if they repeatedly violate environmental protection codes.
The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District northwest of Los Angeles is a bold example of how local authorities in drought-stricken California are trying to get people to use less water, voluntarily if possible but with the threat of penalties if they don’t stick to it.
Before restricting water flow, the district hopes to encourage savings by giving households real-time visibility into their water use and increasing fines for homeowners who exceed their allotted “water budget.”
District officials hope their approach will be a wake-up call for residents of affluent neighborhoods, where most of the water is used outdoors to make sprawling courtyards look green and pretty, and for pools.
Flow restrictors are a rarely used tool, primarily reserved for people who repeatedly fail to pay bills. Now Las Virgenes County is warning they could be installed on the plumbing lines of homes that have been fined for three months for overuse. In the past, flow restrictors were an option after a five-month fine, but the county has never implemented them.
“We’re now trying to conserve water so we can expand the limited supplies we have available,” said Dave Pederson, district general manager.
California is suffering from the effects of climate change, with drought conditions lasting most of the last decade. After two exceptionally dry years left the state’s reservoirs at or near record lows, a recent spate of winter storms improved conditions. But most of the state is still in a severe drought.
In July, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom asked residents to voluntarily reduce their water use by 15%, but use had only fallen 6% through November. The state water agency last month imposed a series of lenient water-use restrictions on homeowners, such as: B. Waiting two days after storms to water lawns. The board could take more significant steps later in the year if the drought worsens.
Local counties in California provide the water supply, regulate its use, and impose penalties. Las Virgenes District serves approximately 75,000 residents of the communities of Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Calabasas and Hidden Hills — an area that has attracted a growing number of celebrities in recent years, including Kim Kardashian and Will Smith.
Like much of Southern California, the region rarely rains outside of the winter months. It’s wealthier than most other parts of the state, according to online real estate marketplace Zillow, with a typical Calabasas home selling for more than $1.5 million.
Despite calls to save, water users in the region increased consumption in August and September, then met the state’s 15 percent reduction target in October, before falling again in November.
Overall, customers have significantly exceeded their water budgets over the past year, and one of the district’s biggest concerns is “the opportunity for affluent customers to consistently significantly exceed their water budgets because money is no deterrent,” said Michael McNutt, district spokesman. He declined to identify the district’s largest water users.
“It appears the response to the water emergency has been lackluster,” said Calabasas Mayor Mary Sue Maurer, who believes restricting water flow could be a needed conservation wake-up call.
Because of the drought, California regulators said in December they would not provide water from state sources in excess of what is needed for essentials like drinking and bathing. That could change in the coming months, but allocations are unlikely to increase significantly unless there’s a very wet winter. The uncertainty is particularly distressing for Las Virgenes, which gets about 80% of its water from government sources.
The district’s conservation approach is part carrot and part stick.
A new advanced water metering system for all households in the district shows customers how much water they are using in real time. The counters, which will all be in place by April except for people opting out, are designed to help users recognize when they’re exceeding limits and adjust their behavior instead of waiting for monthly bills to arrive.
Each household has a “water budget” that is used by many water districts. The budget depends on the number of residents in a household and the size of the property.
Starting this month, customers face fines if they exceed their monthly budget by 150%. Previously, the fine threshold was 200%, and about 15% of the district’s customers were fined, Pederson said. People get a warning the first time.
Las Virgenes’ approach, advanced metering, fines and the threat of flow restrictors, stands out among the state’s more than 400 medium-to-large water agencies, said Mehdi Nemati, an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside, who works with water agencies on conservation programs, but not with Las Virgenes.
Only a few dozen districts have the advanced metering systems because they are expensive to install, and few apply penalties to residents who use too much. Instead, many districts increase water bills as customers use more. But wealthier Californians haven’t saved as much as others during the recent drought, even when the state mandated it, Nemati said.
It’s even rarer for a district to threaten people who use too much water with flow restrictors, and Nemati speculated Las Virgenes’ policies could lead to lawsuits.
“The agency is pretty brave if that’s what they really want,” he said.
Las Virgenes County doesn’t want to be cumbersome with fines or restrictions, said Pederson, the general manager. Fines start at $2.50 and go up to $10 per 748 gallons over the 150% threshold.
The average home in the county uses 19,448 gallons of water a month, most of it outside, and county officials said many customers are staying within their water budgets.
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