3 Water Districts Fined in Drought : Penalty: The cost of failing to meet the Southland’s 10% reduction last month will likely be passed on to consumers.

Three Orange County water districts have been hit with fines--all expected to be passed to consumers--ranging from $15,000 to more than $40,000 for failing to comply with Southern California’s mandated 10% water reduction last month, local water officials said Thursday.

The largest fine--$41,669--was levied against the Tri-Cities Municipal Water District, whose primary customer is San Clemente, for using 2.4% more water in February than in the same month last year.

Other agencies fined for failing to meet Metropolitan Water District of Southern California standards were the Laguna Beach County Water District, which will be fined about $36,000, and the city of Newport Beach, which will be charged about $15,000.

Last week, the MWD fined the Coastal Municipal Water District, which acts as a middleman between the MWD and four county water districts. The Coastal Municipal district, in turn, is passing on its penalties to the local Tri-Cities and Laguna Beach County districts and the city of Newport Beach for failing to meet the reductions.

The two local districts and Newport Beach are entirely dependent on MWD’s drought-plagued water supply, unlike most of Orange County, which uses large quantities of ground water.

Tri-Cities General Manager Ray Woodside said the district will pass the penalties along to its customers.

“I’m rather surprised that we didn’t get the (10%) reduction,” he said. Customers “have to realize that the water isn’t there.”

The Laguna Beach County Water District used 18% more water last month than in February, 1990, while the city of Newport Beach decreased its use by only 7%. The fines are computed by the actual amount of water used compared to last year rather than by percentage, said Hunter Cook, general manager of the Coastal Municipal Water District.

Earlier this week, La Habra joined San Clemente to become the county’s second city to move within one step of declaring a water emergency. City Manager Lee Risner on Tuesday announced he was implementing the third stage of the city’s water-saving plan, under which the city will stop issuing water meters for new buildings and ban most methods of car washing.

The fourth stage of the plan would declare a water emergency, which would prohibit watering for all outdoor vegetation, agricultural sites, nursery products, parks and other public lands. It would also ban refilling ponds, lakes and swimming pools.

La Habra has been hit particularly hard by the water shortage because it receives 60% of its water from MWD and another 30% from the California Domestic Water Co., which will likely reduce water sales in the near future, said Elray Hanna, the city’s general manager of public services.

Under the cutbacks enacted this week, La Habra residents are prohibited from washing motor vehicles, except at commercial car washes using recycled water. Vehicles that must be washed regularly for health and safety reasons, such as garbage trucks or vehicles hauling food, are exempt.

The city also will not issue water meters for new developments or permits for services that now lack meters. Nurseries and agricultural sites, which last month were ordered to cut all non-essential water use, now are prohibited from using water between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Watering of lawns, parks, golf courses and other public areas remains restricted to designated days, with no watering permitted on those days from 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Additionally, all water leaks must be repaired immediately under new requirements.

Violators will receive two warnings before punitive action is taken, Hanna said. After two notices, the city can install flow restrictors on the offender’s water meter. A restrictor carries a $35 charge and cuts water flow by more than 90%, Hanna said.

If the violation still remains uncorrected, the city can disconnect the user’s water meter, Hanna said.

Times Correspondent Len Hall contributed to this report.