Bradley Seeks a Contingency Plan for Water Rationing : Environment: Mayor asks the DWP to draw up a blueprint with tough penalties. But local agencies say they can’t do anything without the cooperation of governments in the areas they serve.

In the face of projected water shortages, Mayor Tom Bradley has asked the Department of Water and Power to develop a tough, new water-rationing plan--with heavy financial penalties for violators--that could be quickly implemented in Los Angeles this summer, aides to the mayor said.

“The mayor was anticipating” the need for rationing, said his chief of staff, Mark Fabiani.

Bradley quietly made his request last month, before the giant Metropolitan Water District called on the DWP and its other member agencies to adopt mandatory conservation plans as the state faces a fourth consecutive year of drought conditions.

The mayor’s action underscores the severity of the projected water shortage--which MWD officials say could result in a decline in water supplies of up to 12% percent in Southern California.

The MWD is calling on each of its 27 member agencies to adopt mandatory water-conservation plans--including provisions for rationing--in preparation for projected water shortages that could affect 13 million customers.

But 10 MWD member agencies contacted by The Times say they have little authority to enact conservation laws and must seek the cooperation and approval of governments in 300 communities that they serve in six counties. That process, they say, could be cumbersome and slow.

“We have to rely on the cooperation of our sub-agencies,” said Tom Salzano, assistant general manager of the Downey-based Central Basin Water District, which like many of the MWD’s members acts as a middleman between the MWD and 27 small water districts.

“It’s complicated,” said Ronald Palmer, general manager of the Foothill Municipal Water District in La Canada. The Foothill District serves seven smaller agencies, including unincorporated areas that would require action by the county Board of Supervisors to implement new water conservation laws.

At least one member agency was unaware that the MWD had issued a call a week ago for mandatory conservation measures such as installing flow restrictors on showers and banning the hosing of sidewalks.

“They said what?” asked Robert Bammes, public works administrator and chief of water supplies for the city of Beverly Hills when told of the MWD’s projected shortfall.

Other communities, however, are already well along in their conservation efforts.

Santa Monica adopted mandatory water-conservation programs in September that include innovative programs such as its “zero net flow” program, which requires developers to pay for conservation programs that will save an amount of water equal to what their project will use. Under the program, the developer of one commercial building recently had to pay for new, low-flush toilets to be installed at Santa Monica’s Will Rogers grammar school.

Santa Monica has been able to reduce its total water usage by nearly 10% in the past two years, officials said.

Officials in some other Southern California cities said they favor voluntary conservation efforts over enforced programs and believe they can achieve cuts of up to 15% without mandatory programs.

“We can probably do it voluntarily,” said Richard Hansen, of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Claremont, echoing the sentiments of his colleagues at several other agencies.

But, Santa Monica’s conservation chief, Atossac Soltani, said, “With voluntary programs, you’re only reaching those people who are already convinced” of the need to save water. “For the rest,” she said, “you need mandatory programs.”

MWD officials concur.

“At what point do regulations become meaningful?” asked MWD spokesman Jay Malinowsky. “When they become mandatory.” But to make mandatory programs effective, they must be enforceable, he said.

Indeed, for the past two years Los Angeles has been in “Phase 1” of its mandatory water-conservation program, which requires timely repair of leaks and bans hosing down of sidewalks, some decorative water fountains and serving water in restaurants unless patrons request it.

The law calls for sending warning letters to offenders for the first two violations, installation of a flow restricter for the third violation and discontinued service for a fourth violation.

“Its the law now, but it’s not being enforced,” said Dorothy Green, director of the environmental group Heal the Bay and a DWP commissioner.

Some concerned citizens say it can take up to a year and more than a dozen phone calls to get the city to act against offenders.

Marcy Britton, a self-proclaimed water vigilante who regularly cruises the streets of Los Angeles with a sprinkler key, said she has turned in scores of offenders. But, she complains, “It can take up to one-half hour to get someone to take a report” at the DWP and rarely is there any follow-up by the department, she said. “I still see the rivers running down the street,” Britton said.

Richard Harasick, a DWP engineer with the conservation department, said that since the city entered Phase 1 of its emergency water conservation plan in April, 1988, the DWP has received 3,000 reports from concerned citizens and city employees. About 1,500 people received a warning letter, fewer than 100 have received more than a second warning letter and no one’s water has been restricted or shut off, Harasick said.

Bradley was in Saudi Arabia this week and not available for comment.

His chief of staff, Fabiani, said, “It’s clear people and businesses have to be reminded” that conservation is the law.

“We need to let the (public) know that we are in Phase 1 and may go to Phase 2,” which is rationing at 90% of normal use, Fabiani said. “We can’t go to (rationing) without giving people an opportunity to comply.” Rationing would require a recommendation of the mayor and approval by the City Council.

John Stodder, an aide to Bradley on environmental matters, said: “ ‘Mandatory’ is always in quotes for any environmental program.” He said police and other city resources “are always going to go to the highest priority,” such as drugs and gangs, rather than to leaky sprinklers.

If the city does begin rationing, Bradley’s staff is seeking to have the law amended so that there would be greater emphasis on financial penalties and less on the threat of a service shutoff.

As currently written, Phase 2 of the law calls for offenders to be charged a penalty of 15% of their bill plus $1 for each billing unit over the amount allowed. Multiple violations could lead to installation of flow restricters and eventually to a service shutoff.

The financial penalties, Stodder said, are “more efficient and easy to administer.” Shutoffs require a lot of staff hours, he said.

Still, some communities with severe water shortages, such as Santa Barbara, have hired “water cops” to patrol the streets looking for homeowners who violate the ban on watering lawns.

“At this stage, it is not worth the the cost of daily enforcement” in most of the Southland, said the MWD’s Malinowsky. “It’s expensive to mount a cavalry of water cops. Whether you do that or not is a function of how bad things get.”