This is just one post in the Conservation Category

L.A. DWP to vote on Villaraigosa’s ‘drought busters’ plan

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 3, 2008 at 6:53 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

With hot weather months drawing near, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is scheduled to move ahead Tuesday with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s crackdown on excessive water use, boosting fines for those who violate city water laws and imposing new restrictions on anyone with a garden hose. The proposed “drought busters” law, which comes up for a vote by the five-member DWP commission, would double water usage fines for residential customers and quadruple them for businesses and apartment building owners.

Three DWP commissioners said today that they had not yet read the proposal. But H. David Nahai, the DWP’s general manager, said he wants the Los Angeles City Council to ratify the plan within weeks. “We’re hoping they will deal with this on a much more expedited basis,” Nahai said. “We want this for this summer.”

Although the DWP already has rules limiting excessive water use, the agency has not issued any tickets since the drought of the early 1990s. With roughly a dozen inspectors assigned to impose the fines, utility officials hope to impose new restrictions and enforce those that already exist, such as a ban on the use of hoses to wash down sidewalks and driveways.

“You cannot use water in any fashion to hose down a driveway for mere convenience or to remove dust or dirt,” said DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo. “You have to sweep it now.”

Other restrictions include limiting irrigation of landscapes during the day, banning car washing unless a shut-off device is used, and banning residents from water lawns when it rains. Those violating the restrictions would face fines. However, not everyone is on board:

The proposed new rules were greeted with scorn by one homeowner activist, who said the cutbacks are being pursued to give Los Angeles enough water to supply new residential development projects.

“Instead of shifting those costs to the new development, what they’re proposing to do is distribute the cost evenly to all the ratepayers. That’s patently unfair and wrongheaded,” said Gerald A. Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino, who said he plans to continue instructing his gardener to hose off his driveway and sidewalk.