Glendale Asks Citizens to Blow Whistle on Water-Wasters

Several days before the Glendale City Council enacted mandatory water conservation rules aimed at cutting consumption by 10%, Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg began getting calls about water-wasters.

“One was about a business that was using a high-pressure hose to clean off the sidewalk,” she said. “One of them was about a sprinkler system that had gone berserk” and was spraying water into the street.

On Tuesday, such practices were outlawed under the first phase of a conservation plan that was activated unanimously by the council. Pre-meeting publicity prompted the calls to Bremberg, and city officials said they’ll need such tips to meet Glendale’s water cutback goals.

“You ought to be a rat-fink on your neighbors who use too much water,” Councilman Carl Raggio said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I intend to practice that to the hilt.”

The council implemented the first stage in a five-step water conservation ordinance adopted in February. The last four stages would require each customer to reduce water usage by a specific percentage. City officials do not believe the more serious cutbacks are needed now, but they said the early conservation measures must be imposed to avert water rationing next year, if the drought continues.

On the average, Glendale uses about 28 million gallons of water a day, although a summer heat wave can boost the daily draw to about 50 million gallons, city staff members said.

The state’s four-year drought has led a number of cities to implement conservation measures. But unlike neighboring Los Angeles, Glendale is not planning to hire “drought busters” to cruise the city in search of water-wasters.

“There’s generally pretty good peer pressure that tends to make enforcement self-supporting” said Michael P. Hopkins, the Glendale’s director of public service.

Under the new rules:

* Hose-washing of walkways, driveways, sidewalks and parking lots is prohibited, except by public safety officers flushing away a hazardous substance.

* Decorative fountains must recirculate their water.

* Restaurants must serve drinking water only on request.

* Water leaks must be repaired in a timely manner.

* Lawns and other landscaping cannot be watered between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when more water is lost to evaporation.

Some of the rules may have a minimal impact.

For example, virtually all fountains in Glendale already recirculate their water, including those outside City Hall and in the city’s Maryland Avenue renewal project. The privately operated waterfall at the 330 N. Brand Blvd. high-rise also recycles its water, the building’s chief engineer said.

Despite Southern California’s water shortage, decorative fountains, ponds and waterfalls have become a popular feature in office building plazas in the city’s central redevelopment area. Jeanne Armstrong, Glendale’s redevelopment director, said the city requires that such systems recycle their water.

But even recirculating fountains require regular refilling because of water lost to evaporation and wind. Armstrong said past droughts have prompted some Northern California cities to halt the use of tap water in fountains. However, these cities have allowed fountains to continue operating with reclaimed water from treatment plants, she said.

Reclaimed water from Glendale’s treatment plant will soon be piped to the Forest Lawn cemetery for irrigation, but no connections to public fountains are immediately planned, public service director Hopkins said.

Although the city’s new mandate on fountains may contribute little to the conservation effort, Hopkins believes several of the other steps will. Even the seemingly insignificant cutback on drinking water at restaurants will help because the equivalent of three additional glasses are water are used in washing each glass for reuse, he said.

City officials hope publicity surrounding the mandatory curbs will encourage residents to conserve in other ways. “The prohibited uses are really intended to increase public awareness of the problem,” Hopkins said.

He said the mandatory measures may cut water use by 5%. To conserve the additional 5%, the city is counting on a public information campaign that will urge Glendale residents to exercise self-discipline at their spigots.

Through water-bill inserts and school programs, residents will be reminded of simple conservation measures, such as not letting the tap flow while shaving or brushing one’s teeth.

In targeting a 10% cutback, Glendale is complying with a region-wide recommendation by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The MWD, which obtains water from Northern California and the Colorado River, provides 80% to 90% of the water used in Glendale.

“If we are successful in reducing the demand by 10% over the summer, that will save us 200,000 acre-feet that we can put in storage for next year, should the drought continue,” said MWD spokesman Bob Gompers.

As an incentive, the MWD is offering a rebate of $100 per acre-foot to municipal customers who reduce summer water consumption at least 5%. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.

Glendale officials will take a relatively low-key stance regarding those who violate the mandatory conservation rules.

For the first two offenses, a violator will receive a written warning but no fine. After the third offense, the city will install a flow constrictor to curtail the customer’s water.

A cutoff in service can be initiated for the fourth violation, but city officials believe it is unlikely that step will be necessary.

“Glendale would always like to lead with the sugar instead of the vinegar on these things,” said Mark A. Doyle, a member of the Glendale Public Service Commission, which recommended the water curbs to the council.

To find the violators, Glendale is relying on public tips and reports from hundreds of city employees. Councilwoman Bremberg said she doesn’t mind hearing from residents who say their neighbors are wasting water.

“It means they’re paying attention,” she said. “And that’s all it takes.”