VENTURA : 1,400 Violators to Get Big Water Bills

About 1,400 Ventura residents and businesses that violated water rationing limits will be charged at 10 times the normal rate in their December bills, city officials said Tuesday.

The violators exceeded water limits for three two-month billing periods in a row, kicking them into the highest user rate under the rationing ordinance.

Ventura Mayor Richard Francis said that the continuing drought and lack of new water sources makes the rationing program a necessity.

“Restricting people’s water is the last thing we want to do,” Francis said. “But there just is not any choice.”

Citywide, water users have reduced their consumption by nearly 30% since the City Council enacted a rationing ordinance in March. About 83% of the city met water-rationing allocations. Another 11% exceeded allocations, but not for three billings. The 1,400 users account for about 6% of city water accounts.

The ordinance provides incentives to use even less than the 294 gallons per day that each household of four is allocated, officials said.

Households that use less than 150 gallons a day pay about 19 cents per day for their water. The rate goes up by 31% for households that use 150 to 299 gallons per day, and by another 57% for 300 gallons per day or more.

Francis said earlier this year that he hoped the city could drop rationing after the first of the year. But on Tuesday he said the city would not be able to secure more water and dismissed his earlier hope as “wishful thinking.”