County Plans for Emergency Water Limits

San Diego County supervisors are prepared to declare a local state of emergency next week, which would enable them to impose sweeping mandatory restrictions on water use countywide.

If adopted, the county will have its first uniform blueprint for the county’s 23 water districts and its hundreds of thousands of customers who are suffering through a fifth year of drought.

A state of emergency, which must be approved by the governor, allows the county to assume ultimate control of decisions involving water and to set guidelines that all water districts and cities, including the city of San Diego, must follow, according to county officials.

“That’s what they say,” said Paul Downey, spokesman for Mayor Maureen O’Connor. “The mayor has serious concerns about the Board of Supervisors and the county administrative officer stepping in and telling the city of San Diego, a chartered city, what we can and cannot do.”

The county’s authority to declare a local emergency and the powers it sets forth is based on a 1979 state attorney general’s opinion, Downey said, and may not apply to the city of San Diego. He said city attorneys were researching its legality Friday afternoon.

Downey said the timing of the county’s plan, presented by Supervisor Susan Golding on the day that water supplies are being reduced by 30%, has a touch of “political grandstanding” to it.

Golding, who could not be reached for comment, is expected to mount a campaign for mayor next year. O’Connor is not running for reelection, after pledging to serve no more than two terms as mayor.

Board Chairman John MacDonald said he figured Golding would fall in for such criticism.

“These accusations are going to come about no matter what the issue, if Supervisor Golding chooses to run--and I assume she will--but I don’t doubt her sincerity,” he said. “We’ve been talking about this for the past few weeks.”

Included in the county’s plan are restrictions on water hookups, the suspension of building permits for new pools and spas, a halt to irrigation that does not include school grounds or parks, and a request to suspend landscaping on all new development.

The plan also presents the option of using reclaimed water or gray water--houshold waste water such as that captured in kitchen sinks and showers--for outdoor irrigation or construction purposes. The use of gray water is now illegal because it contains large doses of bacteria.

Meanwhile, the San Diego County Water Authority will consider mandatory emergency water restrictions next week that its districts must follow or face heavy fines.

Many of the districts already have adopted such restrictions, but the water authority is developing its own policy to be applied uniformly, Paul Engstrand, the county water authority’s attorney, said.

The agency’s board of directors, which represents the 23 districts, will discuss Engstrand’s recommendation for the first time Thursday and then hold a public hearing for a final vote on the matter March 14.

The water authority has 35 board members, many of whom are directly elected. Those who aren’t are appointed by elected city council members.

“What I intend to recommend is that the board adopt prohibitive uses on water and require the members agencies to adopt the same program,” Engstrand said. “If the districts fail to do so, they’ll be subject to heavy surcharges.”

The authority also will consider whether to restrict water flow or fine districts that use more water than necessary, he said.

The latest move by county officials and water authority staff members points up the escalating water crisis, which has hit San Diego County particularly hard.

The county imports 90% of its water from the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District, which reported last month a 50% reduction in water supplies.

With such a reduction, there is nowhere else for the county to turn to meet its water needs.

With the county now advocating a mandatory water cutback and the city working on voluntary restrictions, the debate has advanced to who decides how the scale-backs will occur.

Downey said 70 to 80 volunteer plans from hospitals, hotels, motels, condominium associations and others have already been presented to the mayor’s office.

And Downey, advising that the county should “get its own house in order” pointed out Friday that water use in the unincorporated county rose from 1989 to 1990, while the city’s fell.

Michael D. Madigan, chairman of the water authority’s executive committee, said it doesn’t matter whether the city or county takes the lead or whether the cutbacks are mandatory or voluntary.

What matters, he said, is that water conservation increase significantly and that somehow the cutbacks are spread uniformly.

“Everyone is willing to participate in a plan. What they care about is fairness,” Madigan said. “Will we restrict users on a percentage reduction? Will we base it on gallons of water per capita? Will there be a difference between single and multifamily housing? What happens to commercial and industrial users? These are all interesting questions.”