Manhattan Beach Orders 20% Cut in Water Use

The Manhattan Beach City Council has ordered a 20% reduction in water use below consumption levels of two years ago, starting April 1.

The measure adopted Tuesday, two months after the city established a mandatory conservation plan, requires payment of penalties for excess usage by customers of the city water system.

The plan also prohibits water to be served in restaurants unless requested and the hosing of paved areas, except for sanitary purposes. It restricts the washing of vehicles and the frequency and hours of lawn watering, as well as requiring repair of all water leaks.

Duane Beaver, city utilities superintendent, said the measures will be enforced starting in April, although surcharges for excess use won’t appear on water bills until June 1. The surcharge will be 90.4 cents per unit of water--748 gallons--in addition to the normal charge of 86 cents. People who repeatedly use too much water face additional surcharges and water-flow restrictions.

Beaver said he believes the city will “be at or near 20% in April or May through voluntary cooperation.” He said that prior calls for voluntary cutbacks reduced usage by nearly 10% in February.

“We’re really looking for those who use a lot of water, and (we’re) asking the rest of us to conserve,” he said.

Before the cutbacks in water use, the average residential customer used 30 units of water, which is 22,440 gallons, during each two-month billing period.