Burbank misses December water-savings goal

Shortly after state officials moved earlier this month to extend an emergency water-conservation regulation that required Californians to cut their water use, the latest data shows that Burbank had failed, for the first time since June, to meet its monthly target for water savings. However, it remains on-target for its overall conservation goal.

Californians will have to continue their water-saving efforts through October in response to an executive order by Gov. Jerry Brown, though some areas will see their conservation targets adjusted. Burbank had a mandate to cut water use for the period June through February by 24%, cumulatively, compared to the same time frame two years ago.

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It is expected to have the same goal under the extended regulations. Recent rains and snow, while welcome, will not be enough to replenish the state’s water reserves, officials have said.

Though its cumulative water savings remain on-target through the end of 2015, the most recent data released this month showed Burbank achieved a 21% savings in December, in a month-to-month comparison with the same period in 2013. It was offset by earlier cuts that were deeper than mandated, officials said.

“While we didn’t hit the target in December, we had amply done so in previous months to more than exceed the cumulative target,” said Jeanette Meyer, the utility’s marketing manager.

Water savings surpassed the 24% goal in June, July, August, September and October with usage down 26%, 28%, 27%, 30% and 26% respectively, compared to 2013.

A number of conservation efforts have helped Burbank exceed the state-mandated standard for five of the last seven months of 2015.

Many Burbankers switched their lawns to landscaping that’s more suited to arid climates, exhausted available turf replacement rebates, and several larger customers have converted their irrigation and cooling systems to recycled water.

Next week, Burbank is expected to reach an agreement with Valhalla Memorial Park to convert the cemetery’s irrigation system to recycled water, which utility officials said in April would save an estimated 120 million gallons a year in drinking water.

However, despite these efforts, a “significant number” of Burbankers continue to violate local water use restrictions, according to a recent staff report. The city began fining repeat offenders in May.

Effective last June, the tighter restrictions on water use, such as limiting outdoor watering to two days a week during the summer and once a week November through March, “may not have been totally necessary” if everyone complied, the report states.

Utility workers have been patrolling the city to enforce water restrictions, and public works department employees are keeping an eye out for water wasters while doing their duties.

The city has issued more than 3,100 warnings and assessed 200 fines from May through December, according to the latest state data, though the number of warnings has dropped in recent months to a fraction of the 1,000 issued in July.

Meyer said this week that the comment about the necessity of tighter restrictions was an editorial remark, and the utility does not know “the degree to which people weren’t in compliance” with earlier, less-strict stages of the ordinance.

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Chad Garland, chad.garland@latimes.com

Twitter: @chadgarland