Anaheim, Laguna Beach Opening Hot Lines to Report Water Wasters

The cities of Anaheim and Laguna Beach this week moved to set up telephone hot lines for tips about water wasters, and in Anaheim “water police” will begin cruising the city to seek out and fine offenders.

The five-year drought and directives from the Metropolitan Water District prompted the measures in both cities.

The 24-hour hot lines will receive tips about reported water wasters and offer information about conservation. In Anaheim, the number is 991-DRIP. In Laguna Beach, it is 494-WATR.

The measures approved Tuesday night by the Anaheim City Council are part of an ordinance which paves the way for the city’s mandatory water conservation plan, which is expected to be approved in two weeks.

The plan is similar to one adopted in La Habra last week. It allows only odd/even landscape watering, makes water runoff unlawful, prohibits residents from filling ponds and pools and forbids hosing down outdoor paved surfaces.

Restrictions on businesses are similar, with the addition that restaurants may serve water only if it is requested.

Details of the plan, such as fines for offenders and how much reduction is expected per household, will be hammered out next week and go before the council for approval Feb. 26.

Anaheim’s “water police,” a special team of city employees eventually to number eight, will issue citations to water wasters. Fines reportedly could be about 15% of their water bills for a first offense and 25% for a second.

Joseph A. Sovella, general manager of Laguna Beach County Water District, said his water police aren’t issuing citations at this point, but district workers may visit the homes of reported wasters to issue warnings and explain the gravity of the drought.

Also, Anaheim customers are likely to be asked to reduce water use by 20%, which is about 100 gallons a day less for the average single-family home that uses about 500 gallons daily.

Residents in Laguna Beach were notified last month that they need to cut water use by 10%, or face surcharges by March 1 when the new MWD measures go into effect.

Laguna Beach city officials have also taken recent steps to curtail city water use. As part of a 23-point conservation plan, all but one shower at each end of Main Beach will be shut down, city buses will be washed less frequently and public lavatories will be locked at night to eliminate water misuse.

Laguna Beach employees will deliver plastic bags filled with “toilet dams” and free “low-flow” shower heads, which can reduce water flow by one-fourth, to 5,000 homes next month, Sovella said.

In libraries and community centers throughout Anaheim, residents can pick up free, low-flow shower kits and informational booklets on saving water.

Anaheim’s ordinance, which gives the city the option of raising water rates to encourage reduced water use, is scheduled to take effect March 28. However, in two weeks when it meets again, the council could choose to put the measure into effect immediately.

“We’re adopting a plan, but we’re not moving forward in an urgent fashion,” said Councilman Tom Daly, who encouraged council members not to put the plan into effect today.

Councilman Irv Pickler however, disagreed. “I think it sends the wrong message out. I think we’re doing the residents a disservice by not making it an urgency ordinance.”

The ordinance also leaves the council with the option of water rationing--which would take a separate resolution and a separate vote--if drought conditions continue.

Anaheim’s city-owned utility company gets 30% of its water supply from MWD, and pumps 70% from wells. It serves the city and some adjacent unincorporated areas.

The Laguna Beach County Water District serves 8,000 customers from Crystal Cove State Park to just north of South Laguna. South Laguna and portions of Dana Point and Laguna Niguel are served by the South Coast Water District.

Times correspondent Leslie Earnest contributed to this story.

HIGHLIGHTS OF MWD DROUGHT PLAN

The Metropolitan Water District board of directors took a series of steps on Tuesday to cope with the state’s five-year drought. The board:

* Voted to require its 27 member agencies to reduce consumption by 31% overall. That represents a 50% cut in deliveries to agriculture and a 20% cut in water for residential usage. Further reductions will almost certainly be necessary if dry conditions persist.

* Approved the allocation of $30 million from the agency’s reserves to buy water that may become available from other sources around the state. Rice farmers in the Sacramento area, for instance, may be willing to take their land out of production this year and sell water to thirsty cities.