Mandatory conservation will soon be the norm throughout Southern California. Gov. Jerry Brown has mandated a 25 percent reduction in urban water use throughout the state compared to 2013 levels. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California also acted this week to limit imported water supplies, which will prompt further restrictions. The bottom line is that during this extraordinary fourth year of drought, we all have to save water and do it in a way that minimizes the impact on the region’s $1 trillion economy. Lowering water use will not be accomplished by local water agencies controlling millions of individual spigots. It is done by sending the right financial signals at both the wholesale (regional water agency) and retail (local supplier) level. One of those signals is a surcharge assessed if water agencies use more than they are allowed, based on unique local targets. Also, part of the solution is restrictions on certain practices, such as the number of outdoor watering days. All of us will have to identify actions that minimize the impact and maximize the savings. To help achieve greater water savings, there are rebates available for residents and businesses alike to help lower use. Information about these programs can be found at bewaterwise.com. The Metropolitan Water District imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California for a six-county service area and its 19 million residents. These two sources typically account for about 55 percent of the region’s overall water supply. And all of the water held in Metropolitan’s vast storage network, including Diamond Valley Lake in Riverside County, is imported. This supply is what local agencies increasingly rely on in droughts as their own local supplies become limited. Thanks to significant investment and planning, Metropolitan entered this drought with a record supply of water reserves. Those supplies are now less than half of what was once held in storage. The remaining supplies will require careful management. Protecting these reserves requires that we all reduce our water use. Metropolitan provides water to 26 member public agencies. This supply eventually makes it to the taps of Southland customers either through these agencies or local providers. When Metropolitan restricts the availability of imported supplies, it triggers one form or another of mandatory conservation at the local level. During severe droughts, Metropolitan limits supplies through a “rationing” system known as its allocation plan. The strategy is to spread the challenge fairly and evenly across the region. To accomplish that, a variety of unique local circumstances for each member agency are taken into account. Metropolitan uses two financial signals to achieve the necessary water savings – incentives and surcharges. Incentives are available to individual residents and businesses in the form of the largest-ever conservation program, including $100 million worth of rebates for turf removal and water-saving devices. Businesses also can take advantage of the district’s Water Savings Incentive Program, which provides financial incentives to install high-efficiency equipment and improve water management services. Starting July 1, Metropolitan will impose limits on member agency supplies, with surcharges applied to those that go over allotted levels. Funds collected from the surcharges would fund new conservation activities to achieve future water savings. In practice, water agencies throughout Southern California have always lived up to the challenge of lowering their water use to the target levels. In fact, the last time Metropolitan limited deliveries by 10 percent in 2009-2011, some Southland areas cut back use by up to 17 percent. Brown added a significant level of drought management through his executive order to lower urban water use by 25 percent. He has tasked the State Water Resources Control Board to develop a plan to meet this target. Metropolitan supports this overall goal and will work with the state board to craft a strategy that is both effective and fair at the local level. A conservation target of this magnitude simply cannot be accomplished if we take a business-as-usual approach with our water use. It’s time to re-examine the role of our lawns, which is why Metropolitan is offering a rebate of $2 for each square foot of turf removed. There also are rebates for water-saving changes inside the home. New conservation we lock in this year will lower our water use permanently. Consider this an opportunity to invest in a more reliable future. Jeffrey Kightlinger is general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in Los Angeles.
