Panel Backs Mandatory Water Cuts : City Council: Committee says voluntary efforts have not saved enough. Proposal would mandate 10% cut from 1986 levels.

Expressing concern that Los Angelenos will “backslide” in their water conservation, a key Los Angeles City Council committee unanimously endorsed Mayor Tom Bradley’s plan to impose mandatory 10% cuts on water usage this summer.

The Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to adopt the mayor’s plan, despite new estimates that showed voluntary cutbacks had slowed water use by 12.3% in April and 10.7% in May from expected levels of use.

Even those City Council members who have been skeptical of the need for rationing concluded that the general level of voluntary conservation during the past year has not been enough.

“I’m satisfied that we haven’t reached a steady level of . . . conservation to continue with a voluntary effort,” said Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who presides over the committee. “If we don’t keep up the heat, people will backslide,” she said.

The rationing plan goes to the full council for a hearing June 27. If adopted, it could be implemented immediately.

Bradley proposed the rationing plan in May, following projections by water officials that supplies this year will be 10% short of demand. California is suffering through a fourth consecutive year of drought. Some communities along the Central Coast, including Santa Barbara, have adopted rationing and farmers in the San Joaquin Valley have had deliveries from the State Water Project cut by 50%.

In April, Bradley asked city residents to voluntarily cut their water usage by 10% or face the prospect of rationing. When it appeared that voluntary cuts would not be enough, he asked that the City Council adopt a mandatory plan.

Under the plan, residents would have to cut use by 10% from 1986 levels. That year was selected in an effort to be fair to those customers who have already responded to calls for conservation during the past several years.

On the first violation, customers would face a surcharge of $3 per billing unit of excess use, plus 15% of the water bill. A billing unit is 100 cubic feet of water.

A second violation would cost $3 per excess billing unit, plus 25% of the bill. Three-time violators would face a surcharge of $4 for each excess billing unit and 75% of the bill.

The committee on Tuesday agreed that penalties at apartment buildings should be shared equally by the landlord and tenants.

The rationing plan ran into some resistance before the council committee as Flores questioned the need to take such a drastic step. Two weeks ago, the committee conditionally approved the plan, while calling for a report on the effectiveness of ongoing voluntary conservation.

The committee agreed that if a study finds Los Angeles residents are collectively cutting water use voluntarily by 7% or more over the past year, the rationing plan would not be implemented.

But according to figures released by the Department of Water and Power on Tuesday, residents did not reach that level of conservation for the year--despite the good showings in April and May.

SAVING WATER The chart shows the level of water conservation during each of the past 12 months, based on “normalized” consumption figures. The Department of Water and Power adjusts the actual water-use figures to factor out the effects of rain and hot weather. Significantly, the biggest drop in water use in the past year came in April and May, after Mayor Tom Bradley called for voluntary reductions in water use. Negative figures indicate water use that exceeded projected levels. PERCENTAGE OF WATER SAVED THROUGH CONSERVATION June, 1989: 6.25% July: 5.08% August: 4.78% September: 8.47% October: -6.94% November: -0.48% December: -4.73% January, 1990: -1.12% February: -1.49% March: 1.90% April: 12.29% May: 10.72% SOURCE: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power