Water Rationing With Stiff Penalties Approved by DWP

Mayor Tom Bradley’s water rationing proposal was quickly approved by the Department of Water and Power’s board of commissioners Monday, bringing the city of Los Angeles a step closer to mandatory cutbacks.

The rationing proposal, which must be approved by the City Council, requires residents and businesses to reduce water use by 10% from 1986 levels beginning March 1, and by 15% beginning May 1. Those who do not comply would face stiff penalties on their bimonthly DWP bills.

Bradley called for the rationing plan Friday, citing low snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada, which in normal years supply the city with a large portion of its water through spring runoff.

DWP officials said Monday that if the rationing plan is approved, DWP customers will receive notices beginning in early March advising them of the number of gallons they must conserve to avoid penalties.

It will be nearly seven weeks before all DWP customers receive the notices because of the DWP’s staggered billing cycle, according to James Derry, a DWP official. Those who fail to conserve the required amount of water during the first two-month billing cycle will be permitted to make up the difference in the next billing cycle, Derry said.

But after that, penalties will be charged. The penalty for the first violation would be $3 per billing unit of excess use, plus 15% of the total water bill. A billing unit is 748 gallons. The penalty for the second violation would be $3 per excess billing unit, plus 25% of the bill. A third violation would cost $4 per excess billing unit, and 75% of the bill.