County Plans Tight Rein on Water Use If Winter Is Dry

Orange County authorities are considering a drought management plan that could result in water rationing if dry conditions persist next year in Northern California, the major source of the area’s imported water.

The plan under study by the Municipal Water District of Orange County, which serves about 65% of the county’s users, could require “either mandatory conservation or rationing measures,” according to Fred Adjarian, the district’s water awareness administrator.

“We would look at means of legally enforcing water use,” said Adjarian, who added that it is too early to say what specific measures may be taken.

‘No Cause for Alarm’

However, drastic measures, such as rationing, will not be needed if Northern California receives a normal rainfall, he said.

“Really, there is no cause for alarm. But we want people to conserve because the drought is real,” Adjarian said. “Generally speaking, Orange County is in excellent shape right now. (But) if you have a bad year in the north, bad snowfall, light rain, we would feel it.”

As a precaution, the Orange County Board of Supervisors has enlisted residents in a voluntary effort to reduce home water consumption by 10%, as have other Southern California government agencies. And Orange County agriculture officials have told growers there may be a cut in water supplies next year.

Waste of Water

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California--which sells water to wholesale distributors, including Orange County’s water district--has monitored water use throughout its six-county region and found there has been about an 8% voluntary reduction since June 1, according to district spokesman Bob Gomperz.

Authorities say consumers can cut water usage by checking toilets for leaks, taking shorter showers, using water-saving shower heads or flow restricters, using automatic washing machines only for full loads and watering lawns only when necessary.

A small plumbing leak can waste many gallons of water in a day, and at least 10% of the county’s 801,900 occupied homes have such leaks, authorities estimate. Letting a hose run into the gutter while washing a car can use up as much as 150 gallons. Over-watering of lawns and shrubs can throw away 350 gallons.

Those are only a few of the ways Orange County’s 2,238,721 residents waste the precious commodity, said Jay Malinowski, spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Every 100 gallons cost the user about 10 cents.

Although rainfall in Orange County has been only slightly below normal in the past two years, most of the area’s water is imported from the north, where drought conditions have persisted. In 1987-88 the state, as a whole, recorded the third-driest two-year period on record, behind only 1976-77 and 1933-34, Adjarian said.

“Southland residents will face serious water supply cutbacks” if the drought drags on, said Dr. Wiley Horne, director of planning for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Under “worst-case conditions,” water deliveries to Orange County could be reduced by 80%, he said.

Potential Turning Point

Authorities look toward late fall and winter--ordinarily the wettest time of year--as a potential turning point.

“By Feb. 1, we’ll be through three-fifths of what we consider the rainy season,” said Bill Helms, spokesman for the California Water Resources Control Board. “Not until then will we be able to project what conditions can be expected.

“With a normal rainfall year, we’ll be in good shape next year” in delivering water to Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, Helms said.

However, based on historic rainfall patterns, there is a 29% probability that the Sacramento River basin will be classified as critical again next year, he added. This year, there was no significant rainfall in California from Jan. 17 through April 17.

“But remember, in 1986 we had a dry year up to Feb. 10. Then in 10 days, many (areas) got half of their annual precipitation,” Helms said.

Allocations Could Fall

Should the coming year extend the drought, allocations from the California Water Project would be cut to Southern California and other areas, he said.

Although farmers have seen no interruption in water supplies this year, “there is some worry” about future water cutbacks, said John Ellis, county deputy agricultural commissioner.

“Water is certainly a necessity for any agricultural production,” Ellis said. “Without that, there will not be crops and without that, there will be limited food supplies.

“In the 15 years or so that I’m aware of . . . there has been nothing quite as serious as what is expected if we don’t get rainfall” in the coming months, he said. “It would be the worst that we’ve experienced in recent time.”

Committee Organized

While the northern part of Orange County can draw on wells and reserves in storage facilities, much of the south county is totally dependent on outside sources, Adjarian said. Concern about low water levels prompted the district to activate a drought steering committee in May, he said.

Plans are also under way to build two dams and clean contaminated underground water supplies in a project intended to ease dependence on imported water. The San Juan Basin Authority, a consortium of four south county water districts, has proposed spending $42 million to clear land and construct a pair of dams along the San Juan Creek, east of San Juan Capistrano.

In addition to capturing rainwater, the dams would help control flood waters during heavy storms, said T.J. Meadows, general manager of the basin authority.

“Engineers have told us that they believe more than 3 billion gallons of potable water per year may eventually be available from that project,” Meadows said. The dams would provide enough water to serve 50,000 south county residents a year, he added.

Although the proposed dam project has drawn protests from environmentalists, Meadows said the establishment of such new water sources is “vitally necessary” to keep pace with population growth and demand. If approved after environmental impact studies, construction of the dams could begin in 1990, he said.