Mandatory South Bay Water Curbs Expected : Conservation: Barring heavy rains, area cities may order limits on residential water use as early as January.

Barring biblical rains this winter, South Bay cities will probably consider mandatory water restrictions next year.

With state water supplies far more meager now than at this time last year, regional water officials expect to ask Southern California cities to enact penalties on excess water use.

“Water reserves are extremely low,” said Sarann Kruse of the West Basin Municipal Water District, a regional agency that sells water to South Bay and West Los Angeles communities. “All indications are that we’ll be going to the cities to request mandatory rationing.”

Such restrictions would be the first imposed in the South Bay in memory.

Local officials do not relish the prospect. They say mandatory water restrictions would bring administrative costs, enforcement problems and possibly steeper water bills for consumers. Said Hermosa Beach City Manager Kevin Northcraft: “It’s not something that’s going to be easily done.”

Prompting the talk of mandatory measures is Southern California’s continuing water shortage, the most severe since 1977.

Officials say water supplies in the state’s two primary storage reservoirs are less than half what they were at this time last year. And Southern California’s share of Colorado River water is expected to be smaller in 1991 than it was this year because of increased water use by Arizona and Nevada.

“We better have a wet year or we could have terrible shortages,” said Kris Helm of the Metropolitan Water District, a water wholesaler serving a six-county area from Oxnard to the Mexican border. “We’re white-knuckling it, waiting for rain.”

Another argument for mandatory measures locally is the limited success of voluntary water conservation.

In April, MWD officials asked communities to cut water use in June through September by at least 10%--allowing for population growth--compared to the same period last year. Every South Bay city except Lomita and Rolling Hills passed resolutions or ordinances calling for such reductions, according to a tally by the West Basin district.

Overall, officials say, the MWD’s six-county district used 9.9% less water in the summer months. But the South Bay saved less than 4.5%, according to West Basin figures covering all South Bay communities outside the harbor area.

The poorest performances: a 2.3% cut in the Southern California Water Co. district covering Gardena, Lawndale and Lennox; a 2% reduction in the California Water Service Co. network serving the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and a 1.8% saving by Torrance’s municipal water system.

The best: a 9.2% cut by the Los Angeles County water district serving Lomita.

Communities with the smallest conservation gains offered a variety of explanations.

Charles Schaich, an administrative analyst with the Torrance Water Department, said his city would have attained the 10% goal if Mobil’s Torrance refinery had not dramatically boosted fuel production--and water consumption--with the onset of the Persian Gulf crisis.

Rancho Palos Verdes City Manager Paul Bussey said the peninsula’s poor results may reflect a tendency by cities served by private water suppliers to do less than they should to promote conservation.

“When you’re responsible for a service, you take more direct interest in it,” Bussey said. “When you’re not, you let other things occupy your mind.”

Private water companies, meanwhile, say they feel constrained because they lack the power to impose mandatory measures.

“We have no teeth to go in there and say, ‘Don’t do that or we’re going to fine you,’ ” said Rusty Hodges, district superintendent for the Southern California Water Co.

However, Hodges said his company could have done more to push voluntary water conservation. “We’re going to have to get the message out stronger,” he said.

If regional water officials have their way, that message will become an order. Possibly as early as January, Kruse said, her agency will ask its member cities to enact mandatory conservation measures.

The first measures to be recommended, she said, would probably include a penalty on consumers who cannot keep their water use 5% below 1990 levels. Violators would be charged double for the water they consume in excess of the target amount.

Many local officials say that if the water shortage continues to worsen, South Bay cities would have little choice but to enact such restrictions. But they warn that mandatory water conservation will be difficult and costly to impose.

Dwayne Beaver, superintendent of Manhattan Beach’s municipal water system, says Manhattan Beach would have to buy new bill-processing machines and computer equipment and hire new clerks and an enforcement official.

“City expenditures will be far higher,” said Beaver, whose city is planning a public hearing to discuss mandatory water-saving measures.

Lawrence Vivian, El Segundo’s utility manager, says enforcement would also pose problems. Since conservation targets would vary depending on family size, he says, water officials would constantly have to update billing information--and deal with consumers who complain about water rationing.

“We really don’t want to get into mandatory (measures). . . . There would, I’m sure, be a lot of problems with the people,” Vivian said. “But if it’s a real crisis, everybody will have to share the pain.”

Lawndale City Manager Charles Thompson said another potential hurdle is public skepticism about the need for water conservation. “I am still not convinced the average member of the public has it strong in their mind that we’re facing a real crisis,” he said.

Northcraft, the Hermosa Beach city manager, said other people oppose rationing on grounds that residential users account for a small share of water use when compared with agriculture and industry.

“I’ve heard people here say that we’re such a small percentage of overall use, we wouldn’t make much difference,” Northcraft said. “I think many people feel we have a priority problem, not just a water-shortage problem.”

Such sentiments would no doubt strengthen if residential water bills increase as a result of conservation. Regional water officials acknowledge that since conservation would slow water sales, water districts would have to boost rates to cover fixed overhead costs.

“That’s a dilemma,” said Thomas Salzano, manager of water supply services for the West Basin district. “If you ask the public to cut back, one of the frustrating things is the cost of water goes up.”

Heavy rain, Salzano adds, is the only way such problems can be avoided.

Water Conservation Water Conservation June-Sept.-How the South Bay Fared Metropolitan Water District’s goal for the area: 66,043 acre-feet* Actual consumption during the four-month period: 70,087 acre-feet. Water savings recommended by the MWD: 7,338 acre-feet. Actual savings: 3,295 acre-feet. MWD goal: 66,043 Actual consumption: 70,087 Savings recommended by MWD: 7,338 Actual savings: 3,295 Water Conservation “DoS” Do: Install flow restrictors on showers Hang water displacement bags in toilet tanks Fix leaking faucets, spigots and toilet tanks Use swimming pool covers Fill gardens with plants suited for dry climate Water Conservation “Don’ts” Don’t Hose down walkways, driveways, or parking areas Run fountains without a recycling system Water lawns and gardens between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wash only a half load of laundry or dishes Use the toilet as a disposal Source: West Basin Municipal Water District