Editorial : CWA Action Was the Easy Way Out : <i> Scaled-back water cut misses a chance to make up for county’s past errors</i>

Just when it had the opportunity to bring order to conservation chaos, the San Diego County Water Authority took the easy way out last week, scaling back on conservation goals further than the numbers would dictate.

For once, the water authority could have made conservation action match the water facts.

THE FACTS: San Diego County is a semi-arid region. We import 95% of our water. We are at the end of the water pipeline, and are therefore more vulnerable to drought and disaster.

Yet, for the first three or four years of the drought, San Diego water officials paid only lip service to those facts. Consumers were told to conserve, but few incentives were built into the rates. Nor were there any significant rebate programs or building codes to encourage the installation of low-volume toilets and low-flow shower heads and faucets in existing houses or require them in new homes. Developers were not required to assure that there was sufficient water for their projects.

THE ACTION: When the fifth year of drought arrived, it was panic time. Within a few weeks, the conservation goals jumped from 10% to 30%. Then it looked as if a 50% cutback would be needed. All of a sudden, watering lawns was going to be outlawed. Bushes and trees could be watered only every two weeks--with drip irrigation or by hand. No car washing except at commercial carwashes. No pool or spa filling. Some businesses faced economic hardship or even ruin.

San Diegans were shocked into water consciousness.

Then came the March rains and snow. Nature gave the state a break. But state and Metropolitan Water District officials made it clear that the precipitation did not offset four earlier years of drought. Although 50% cutbacks would no longer be necessary, water deliveries would still be cut by 31%.

The logical response in San Diego County would have been to declare 31% as a conservation goal, since we import almost all of our water through the MWD.

Instead, last Thursday, the County Water Authority board voted unanimously to cut back only 20% and to make up the difference by buying more expensive water from the state and dipping into emergency reserves.

Why?

The water authority had people’s attention and their willingness.

As San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor is so proud of saying, city residents and businesses cut water use 36.8% in March and 39.5% for the first 11 days of April.

Some of that savings was because the rain eliminated the need for outdoor watering. Nonetheless, it was an exceptional effort.

Unfortunately, the CWA action could halt that conservation momentum.