Monday’s ruling by the State 4th District Court of Appeals, which ruled that it is unconstitutional to charge customers more for high water usage—unless the cost is directly tied to the cost of delivering that water—is being closely watched by water districts in the Morongo Basin. So far, that ruling is binding only in Orange County, but approximately two-thirds of the water districts in California used tiered pricing as a way to encourage their customers to conserve water. Following the governor’s April 1 mandate requiring Californians to reduce their water usage by 25 percent, the State Water Resources Control Board issued mandatory water cuts of 20 to 25 percent for all water districts. Following complaints from customers and water districts that the high cuts penalized those who had already been conserving water, the control board issued revised conservation goals. Mike Lipsitz reports that only one local water agency will have its compulsory reduction lowered, while two local water agencies will have to meet higher conservation levels…
The state Water Quality Control Board has modified proposed conservation regulations in an attempt to fine tune water restrictions based on feedback from suppliers, interest groups and the public, as well as usage data. For Yucca Valley’s Hi-Desert Water District, the conservation goals were relaxed from 20 percent to 16 percent. Bighorn Desert View has not yet received any direction from the state—possibly due to its small size—but for both the Joshua Basin and Twentynine Palms water districts, the revised compulsory reductions were expanded from 25 percent to an eye popping 28 percent. The numbers are based residential gallons used as measured last July, August and September. For Joshua Basin Water District that averaged nearly 170 gallons per person per day, the highest of anywhere measured in the Basin. Calling the high figure “baffling,” General Manager Curt Sauer said the District is examining the data for accuracy, but also preparing to incorporate every available option in order to meet the compulsory 28 percent reduction.
Twentynine Palms Water District
Population served: 18,795
Percent residential use in September 2014: 85.0%
Monthly average residential daily gallons per person for July, August and September of 2014: 130.6
April 8 proposed conservation: 25%
April 18 proposed conservation: 28%
Joshua Basin Water District
Population served: 9,969
Percent residential use in September 2014: 95.6%
Monthly average residential daily gallons per person for July, August and September of 2014: 169.6
April 8 proposed conservation: 25%
April 18 proposed conservation: 28%
Hi-Desert Water District
Population served: 24,601
Percent residential use in September 2014: 70.9%
Monthly average residential daily gallons per person for July, August and September of 2014: 90.3
April 8 proposed conservation: 20%
April 18 proposed conservation: 16%
