In an affluent enclave along the Santa Monica Mountains that’s a celebrity haven, residents are now facing more aggressive water-wasting consequences.
The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, northwest of Los Angeles, hopes to drive water conservation by making it easier to penalize households that exceed their allotted “water budget” and threatens to significantly restrict water flow for customers who repeatedly fail to save limit.
The district 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 comply. Las Virgenes officials hope their approach will be a wake-up call for residents in affluent neighborhoods, where most of the water is used for outdoor uses like landscaping and pools.
“We’re now trying to conserve water so we can expand the limited supplies we have available,” said Dave Pederson, district general manager.
California feels the effects of climate change; it has endured drought conditions for most of the past decade and has seen its most destructive and deadly wildfires during that time. After two exceptionally dry years that 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 in November it fell by just 6%. The state water agency has imposed a series of mild restrictions over the past month, such as: B. Waiting two days after a storm to water lawns. It could make more significant moves later in the year if the drought worsens.
In California, local districts provide the water supply, regulate its use, and impose penalties. Las Virgenes serves about 75,000 people in 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 inland Southern California, Las Virgenes rarely rains outside of the winter months, and summer average highs are in the mid-90s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius). It’s wealthier than most places — a typical Calabasas home sells for more than $1.5 million, according to online real estate marketplace Zillow.
Despite calls to save, local water customers increased consumption in August and September, then surpassed the 15% reduction target in October before falling again in November. Overall, customers significantly exceeded their water budgets in the past year.
One of the district’s biggest concerns is “the opportunity for affluent customers to consistently significantly exceed their water budget, since money is no deterrent,” said Michael McNutt, spokesman for the district. He declined to identify the district’s largest water users.
About 70% of the district’s water is used outdoors, and many are willing to pay higher water bills to keep their lawns and gardens lush and their pools filled.
“It appears that the response to the water emergency has been lackluster,” said Calabasas Mayor Mary Sue Maurer, who believes restricting water flow could give the wake-up call some people need.
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 new approach to spur conservation is part carrot and part stick:
The agency is installing an advanced water metering system that will show customers how much water they are using in real time. It’s designed to help people recognize when they’re over the limit and adjust their behavior instead of waiting for the monthly bill to arrive to realize they’ve overused. They will be installed nationwide by April, except for customers opting out, which few have done.
Each household has a “water budget” used by many California water districts based on population size and lot size. 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 only get a warning the first time they go over budget.
But fines are not the harshest punishment; Households fined three times could have a flow restrictor fitted to their water system, slowing what comes out of their taps or hoses to a trickle. Previously, the county could add the restrictions after five fines, but never did.
Wealthier Californians didn’t save as much as others during the recent drought, even when the state mandated it, said Mehdi Nemati, an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside. He works with water agencies on conservation programs, but not with Las Virgenes.
Las Virgenes’ approach, advanced metering, fines and threats of flow restrictors, stands out among the state’s more than 400 medium-to-large water agencies, he said. 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.
Such a method changes behavior for some but is not very effective in changing it for wealthy people, he said. Las Virgenes also uses such a structure, then adds penalties on top.
Rarely does a district threaten flow restrictors, which are usually reserved for customers who consistently fail to pay their bills. Nemati suspected that Las Virgenes policies would lead to lawsuits.
“The agency is pretty brave if that’s what they really want,” he said.
Las Virgenes 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 (2,831 liters) over the 150% threshold. An average home in the district uses 19,448 gallons (73,618 liters) of water per month, most of it outdoors.
District officials acknowledged that many customers are staying within their water budgets.
“Our system helps us get the message across to the people who are really the problem,” Pederson said.
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