Water Policy Draws Expert Challenge : Government: UCLA professor says water rates encourage development. Water official counters that agencies are just suppliers.

What began as a press conference to encourage water conservation turned into a critique of city and county water management Wednesday, when a UCLA professor called on local water agencies to examine what he called their pro-growth “expansionary” policies.

Speaking in front of the San Diego County Water Authority headquarters on 5th Avenue, Robert Gottlieb, a professor of urban planning at UCLA, said water-pricing structures in San Diego have traditionally not reflected the actual costs of transporting water, thus creating what he called “growth subsidies” that encourage development in certain areas.

“Water agencies have always been central to how growth gets determined. You can look at the map of annexation to the San Diego County Water Authority--it follows the lines of growth,” he said. “Water use, the way it’s made available (and) how it’s priced have always created the system of subsidies that has directed the growth in a certain way.”

But Gottlieb said drought and other pressures, like the city of San Diego’s continuing battle over sewage treatment, are forcing water wholesalers to rethink their strategies. Instead of focusing on getting more and more water, Gottlieb said, water agencies in the future will have to turn their attention to better use of the water they have.

Gottlieb, who appeared at the request of Citizen Action, a nonpartisan consumer and environmental lobby, is no stranger to Southern California water politics. For seven years, he served on the board of the Metropolitan Water District, the region’s water wholesaler that supplies 95% of San Diego County’s water. And, more recently, he co-authored a book, “Thirst for Growth: Water Agencies as Hidden Government in California.”

His presence outside the water authority building prompted some county water officials to step out on the sidewalk for a listen--and to respond to some of his charges.

Byron M. Buck, the authority’s director of water resources planning, took issue with Gottlieb’s suggestion that the authority serves as an engine of growth.

“We don’t say that we’re not related to (growth),” he said. “It’s simply that our mission is simple: to supply the water demands of the region. That’s all we do. We don’t get involved in whether growth is good or bad.”

He also said that the San Diego County Water Authority charges rates reflective of the actual cost of transporting water. And he said it has been active in promoting conservation. He noted a piece of legislation, sponsored by the authority and introduced by state Sen. Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), that would require people to install low-flow toilets when they sell their homes.

“The real estate industry has put a full-court press on that and has stopped the bill for now,” Buck said. “But we were there, arm in arm with the Sierra Club.”

Still, Buck said, conservation is not the only solution “unless you want to change people’s lifestyles.” Historically, he said, the water authority board has not wanted to do that.

“If you want to get into the business of telling people how to use their water, you can say they absolutely have to install low-flow toilets, that they can’t have front-yard lawns, that they can’t wash their cars,” Buck said. “But our board’s philosophy has been to get long-term savings that don’t affect people’s lives.”

“Relying on lifestyle changes to have a reliable water supply just won’t work,” he said. “That’s how Santa Barbara got into such trouble.”

But Gottlieb said the authority should be taking a more active role in encouraging--even requiring--its 24-member agencies to get their customers to think seriously about conservation.

“The water authority has to be aggressive and out in the forefront. It has to be saying to its member agencies, ‘We’re not simply going to pass through this water. We’re going to be out there setting the stage for a new kind of ethic of use.’ ”

He added: “The water authority (and) the city have a lot of power to do more than simply suggest. In the end, you can’t implement policies when all you’re saying is, ‘Well, it would be nice if . . . .’ You’ve got to put teeth to it.”