HUNTINGTON BEACH : City, Residents Argue Water Conservation

Stung by criticism from residents who believe that the city should have a mandatory program to reduce water use, the City Council on Monday will discuss water controls.

The council, however, is not scheduled to vote on a mandatory water-conservation plan until April 8. Critics say the council should not wait that long to take action.

City Administrator Michael Uberuaga said Friday that the city has a voluntary water-conservation program in place. He added that voluntary conservation reduced overall water use in the city by 7% last year, compared to 1989.

Huntington Beach gets 70% of its water from underground wells and is therefore less affected by recent reductions from the big, Los Angeles-based water wholesaler, the Metropolitan Water District. But some residents, including Debbie Cook of Save Our Parks, have said that Huntington Beach nonetheless should not be complacent about water and should not rely solely on a voluntary-conservation plan.

“In the fifth year of a drought, they (city government) just sit and talk,” Cook said. “The city has a disaster preparedness plan, but it doesn’t have a drought plan. They need to do some planning for the future.”

City officials, in reply, say that the city-owned water company has been urging voluntary conservation. “We’ve had information on water bills for the last four months,” said Linda Daily, a senior analyst with the city water division. “What we haven’t done is panicked, and we haven’t panicked because our water supply is well-managed.”

Daily noted that some Orange County cities do not have underground wells and thus get all their water from out-of-county water suppliers. Those water wholesalers are now requiring big cutbacks in client cities because of the continuing drought.

“Some people think that because we’re next to Newport Beach, that when water restrictions go in place in Newport Beach, we also need them here,” Daily said. “But Newport Beach has 100% imported water. It doesn’t have the ground water that Huntington Beach has.”

Huntington Beach has nine underground wells within the city. Daily said the drought has lowered the water levels in the wells “several feet.” The water decrease in the wells so far has not been serious, “but there certainly is not an infinite supply,” she explained, adding that recent rains will help recharge the underground water somewhat.

Dave Sullivan, a board member of the civic organization, Huntington Beach Tomorrow, said Friday that the city should slow down housing construction during the drought crisis.

He and Cook said that existing residents in the city may suffer as new housing taps into the city’s water supply. “The developers are trying to get their permits approved before the residents get up in arms,” Cook said.