MWD Warns Agencies to Impose Limits or Lose Funds : Drought: The directors target cities and water districts that do not adopt mandatory conservation programs. A 24% rate hike is approved to make up for lowered water use.

The Metropolitan Water District on Tuesday added teeth to its call for stringent water conservation by threatening to cut off millions of dollars for new water projects in cities or districts that fail to adopt mandatory conservation programs and cut water use by 20%.

Cities and water districts in the MWD’s six-county service area could lose from a few hundred thousand dollars to as much as $5 million in funding for a wide variety of proposed projects and programs.

At least 10 major water reclamation, desalination and ground water extraction projects, and numerous smaller conservation programs, could potentially lose MWD funding as a result, officials said.

In an attempt to shore up its own drought-ravaged finances, the MWD board also approved a 24% rate increase to make up for the huge reduction in water sales it will suffer this year. As its supplies from the State Water Project and the Colorado River have dried up, the MWD has had 35% less water to sell this year and officials have projected that its supplies probably will not improve for the next three years.

Officials say it is likely that dozens of local water agencies will be forced to pass the increase on to consumers. In Los Angeles, officials have said that the MWD rate hike will translate into an 8% rate increase for Department of Water and Power customers.

The MWD board narrowly rejected a proposal that called for a smaller rate increase.

But the board passed without debate the resolution to punish agencies that do not adopt some mandatory conservation measures and save 20%. The board stopped short of requiring agencies to impose mandatory rationing plans, like the one in Los Angeles, where consumers will be penalized for using more than their allotments.

Although the measure stirred considerable opposition when it was proposed one week ago, board members said Tuesday that they were ready to back extraordinary efforts to achieve deep cuts in consumption during the fifth year of drought.

“They’ve heard the arguments before,” said MWD Chairwoman Lois Krieger, who represents the Western Municipal Water District in Riverside County, adding that the time had finally come for them to take action.

With the resolution, the board may silence some of the bickering that has erupted in recent weeks between districts that have been successful in saving water and those that have not.

Cities such as Los Angeles, which have saved more water than others, have called for a sharing of the conservation burden. San Diego and a number of other cities have said individual cities should make their own decisions on how to conserve.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley once again addressed the issue in an open letter to MWD General Manager Carl Boronkay.

“We called upon every person who lives or works in Los Angeles to do their fair share,” Bradley wrote in the letter made public by his staff. “Now we join in asking that everyone in the region does the same. The people in Los Angeles have been conserving . . . but our people have the right to expect that other Southern Californians are conserving as well.”

Bradley asked the MWD to compile and disclose a comprehensive accounting of what steps have been taken by Southland cities to conserve, and to describe how successful they have been in achieving their goals.

S. Dell Scott, leader of the Los Angeles delegation to the MWD board, said Bradley’s request was largely in response to San Diego’s steadfast refusal to adopt mandatory programs or to curb its water use. In February, San Diego exceeded its allotment of MWD water by 46%, while Los Angeles purchased 16% less than its allotment.

“I can’t understand why they won’t adopt mandatory (programs),” Scott said. “It’s a matter of equity.”

But Francesca M. Krauel, an MWD board member representing San Diego, said that much of the extra water purchased in February was put in storage and that the city’s conservation rate is now nearing 50%, almost double that of Los Angeles.

“For Los Angeles to point at San Diego is just absurd,” Krauel said. “It’s an outrage.

Bradley and San Diego Mayor Maureen F. O’Connor are scheduled to meet in Los Angeles today to discuss the drought.

On Thursday, the San Diego Water Authority is scheduled to vote on a series of tough mandatory water conservation measures, including bans on watering lawns and washing cars at home.

WATER PROJECTS FACING REVISION

Here is a list of projects that could be affected by the new MWD policy. The exact level of MWD subsidy for each of the proposed projects was not available Tuesday. But officials said they range from a few hundred thousand dollars to as much as $5 million.

PROJECT: Santa Margarita Waste Treatment

AGENCY: Santa Margarita Water District

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Waste water treatment facility to provide reclaimed water for use on golf courses in southern Orange County.

PROJECT: Irvine Ground Water Desalter

AGENCY: Orange County Water District

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Construction of desalter to treat nonpotable ground water. Wells will be dug and water treated for potable purposes.

PROJECT: Rowland Ground Water Extraction

AGENCY: Rowland Water District

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Nonpotable ground water pumped and distributed for irrigation and industrial purposes.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Pomona Reclamation

AGENCY: City of Pomona

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Effluent from Pomona water reclamation plant will be used for golf course and landscape irrigation.

PROJECT: Sepulveda Basin Reclamation

AGENCY: City of Los Angeles

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Effluent from Tillman reclamation plant will be used for golf course and agricultural irrigation.

PROJECT: Santa Monica Ground Water

AGENCY: City of Santa Monica

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Contaminated ground water will be treated and used for municipal and domestic purposes.

PROJECT: North Ranch Reclamation

AGENCY: Calleguas Municipal Water District

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Reclaimed water from Tapia Park treatment facility in the Santa Monica Mountains will be used for golf course and greenbelt irrigation.

PROJECT: Oceanside Reclamation

AGENCY: City of Oceanside

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Reclaimed water from San Luis Rey treatment plant will be used for municipal, industrial and agricultural purposes.

PROJECT: Oceanside Expansion

AGENCY: City of Oceanside

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Additional treatment capacity at San Luis Rey facility.

PROJECT: Otay Reclamation

AGENCY: Otay Water District

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Reclaimed water from Jamacha Basin treatment facility will be used for parks, school grounds, golf course and landscape irrigation.

Source: Metropolitan Water District