El Segundo, Torrance OK 20% Cut in Water Usage : Conservation: The two cities’ mandatory cutback measures are the strictest in the South Bay. The programs start next month.

Facing increased costs for water as California’s drought drags on, city officials in Torrance and El Segundo this week approved the South Bay’s toughest conservation measures to date, calling for 20% cutbacks on water consumption.

The programs, approved in separate meetings Tuesday, are scheduled to take effect in March. Residents and businesses in both cities will be charged extra if they fail to meet the 20% conservation target. The programs also prohibit certain wasteful uses of water, such as daytime watering of lawns and hosing down driveways.

In enacting the measures, officials cited the state’s five-year-long drought--and fines that municipal water departments face if they fail to keep their wholesale purchases in line with conservation goals set by regional water agencies.

“The basic thing is that fines and penalties are being assessed on us and we have to pass them on to residents,” Torrance Councilman Tim Mock said Wednesday. “If we don’t, our (city) revenues would be drained.”

Said El Segundo Councilman J.B. Wise: “It’s time to take a leadership role.”

Torrance

The Torrance program, approved unanimously Tuesday night by the City Council, applies only to the 25,500 customers of the city-owned water system. About 30% of Torrance is served by two private water utilities that have prepared their own water conservation plans calling for cuts of 10%, increasing to 20%.

Under the city program, municipal water customers will be called on beginning March 1 to cut consumption by 20% on a month-by-month basis compared to 1989. If they do not, they will be charged $1 for each 100 cubic feet of water (about 748 gallons) they use in excess of the conservation target--more than double the normal rate.

Penalties, however, would not be levied on customers who use less than 325 gallons a day. And residents and businesses that conserve more than 20% will receive credits amounting to 25 cents for each 100 cubic feet of water they save in excess of their goal.

City Council members balked at a portion of the program that would have banned watering lawns more than once a week and during the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Instead, they approved a less ambitious list of water-use restrictions pending a review of the issue within the next two weeks.

Wasteful practices prohibited under the toned-down list include watering lawns from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., watering more than once every other day, hosing down vehicles or boats without automatic shut-off nozzles and serving water in restaurants when it is not requested.

Offenders will face penalties ranging from a warning to a $150 surcharge on their water bills and the mandatory installation of a flow restrictor on their water lines.

Some city officials expressed fear that the scope of the water program will catch residents by surprise. Said Mayor Katy Geissert: “The customers will read about it in the newspaper and it will hit them like a two-ton truck.”

But the council approved the plan after being told that the South Bay’s main source of wholesale water--the Metropolitan Water District--is preparing to penalize local water providers that fail to cut deliveries by 20%. Briefed by city water experts, they were also told that the MWD may soon seek even larger reductions due to the severity of the drought.

“Ski resorts are closing,” Councilman Mark Wirth said before Tuesday’s vote. “If there’s no snow in the mountains in February, then we have a bad situation.” Said Councilman Dan Walker: “I don’t think you ease into a crisis. You hit it full force.”

El Segundo

The El Segundo conservation program, approved Tuesday night in a 4-1 council vote, calls on residents and businesses to reduce water use by 20% compared to the period of June 1, 1989, to May 31, 1990.

Customers who fail to meet the target will have to pay a penalty of 99 cents per 100 cubic feet of water on their bimonthly bills. The penalties will not apply to those who consume less than 375 gallons a day.

Restrictions will go into effect March 1 for large commercial water users and April 1 for homeowners and small businesses.

The program calls for credits of 20 cents for each 100 cubic feet conserved in excess of the 20% savings goal. It also includes a general surcharge of 10 cents per 100 cubic feet to pay for a public information campaign and make up for revenues that the city expects to lose as a result of water conservation.

The El Segundo ordinance requires the use of shut-off nozzles on hoses used to wash vehicles and prohibits hosing down paved areas. It prohibits watering lawns and landscaping from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. unless it is done with a hand-held hose with a shut-off nozzle.

Water users who consume an abnormally large amount of water will be given five days to correct the situation. If this is not done, the city may install a flow restrictor.

The council’s staff had initially proposed the water conservation ordinance as a voluntary measure. Public Works Director Ken Putnam said he believed conservation could be achieved through a public information campaign and adjustments by large consumers like the Chevron USA refinery, which accounts for 60% of water use in the city.

The top 100 water users are required to file a water-reduction plan with the city by mid-March.

Councilman Scot D. Dannen, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said he did not see the need for immediate passage of a mandatory program. But the council voted to make the measure mandatory, saying that people in the city will have to get used to browner lawns if necessary.

Said Councilman Wise: “It’s a critical situation.”