Picus Urges Eased Limits on Water Use : Drought: Emergency plans should allow for dramatic differences in climate and lush yards, the councilwoman says.

If Mayor Tom Bradley succeeds in imposing water rationing, some San Fernando Valley residents ought to be allowed to use more water than those elsewhere in the city because the Valley has a hotter climate and bigger lawns, Councilwoman Joy Picus said Tuesday.

Picus, who represents a West Valley district, appealed to the Council’s Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee as it began reviewing emergency water-saving plans.

Last week, Bradley proposed a 10% cut in water usage for all users, based on 1986 consumption, with penalties for those who fail to comply. If approved, that legislation could take effect as early as next month.

Under provisions of the mayor’s proposal, the allotments may be appealed. Picus urged that homeowners be allowed to argue that large lots and a drier climate entitle them to exemption from the full cutbacks.

To stress the “dramatic climate differences” possible within the city, Picus said in a news release that “last weekend, the West Valley was nearly 25 degrees hotter than Venice Beach and we aren’t even close to summer yet.”

“We need to be fair to people who have larger lawns, lusher vegetation and warmer weather,” she said, acknowledging that the Valley, where many lawns are larger than the average lawn in other areas of the city, would benefit the most.

How much her proposed special dispensation, if adopted, would mean in extra gallons available to Valley water users Picus could not say.

But her ideas did not float well with Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani or the city Department of Water and Power staff.

The cutback mechanism “already automatically adjusts for weather,” Fabiani said. If Valley residents need more water due to differences in climate, he said, presumably they were using more in 1986 than homeowners elsewhere and thus a 10% cut for Valley residents is as fair as a similar cut for other water users.

Picus acknowledged that it would be too complicated to factor in weather differences and lawn sizes in computing water allotments if rationing is imposed this summer. She asked that such factors only be made grounds for appeal this year, but urged that they become part of the allocation formula next year.

Jim Derry, DWP customer relations director, said the city-owned utility sees no need to alter the cutback formula.

“History has shown that the conservation plan we’ve got has been very effective,” Derry said. A citywide, mandatory water conservation plan like the one Bradley proposed was in effect in the late 1970s.

DWP officials said they would expect 100,000 allotment appeals if the current plan is adopted. It is anticipated that the most common ground for appeal would be that a water user’s family had grown since 1986 and thus needed more water, DWP officials said.

“The Valley is always hotter than Westwood or downtown L.A. in the summertime,” said Mike Smith, a consulting meteorologist with WeatherData Inc. “The mountains keep the sea breezes from being able to penetrate inland into the Valley.”

On a typical summer day, he said, the Valley high temperature reaches 92 degrees, while the Civic Center’s is 84 degrees, UCLA is 80 and Los Angeles International Airport is 76.

Smith said the Valley also is drier than most of the city. On a typical July day, humidity at Burbank is 63% while it is 75% at the Los Angeles airport, he said.

Picus’s proposal would aid some Valley businesses that foresee a reduction in income if the 10% decrease in water use is enforced.

At the A.V. Nursery in Sepulveda, flowers and ferns that shriveled in the Valley’s 100-degree heat wave last weekend exemplified the potential losses.

“I had to double-water the plants because they were totally dried out,” said the nursery’s owner, Susan Ventrella. “Still, by the end of the day, the plants would be dried out. I was here till 8 o’clock at night watering.

Other Valley residents said they have already cut back water usage by purchasing water-saving devices but are prepared to do more.

Ellen Kaplan, who grows fuchsias, azaleas and other plants at her Studio City home, said, “If it comes to it, we would have to let our lawn go brown.”

“Any responsible person would have to let it go,” she said, adding that if need be “I’d get water from the toilet bowl to keep my fuchsias alive.