SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Water-Use Jump May Cause Penalty

A jump in water use this month has put the Capistrano Valley Water District in jeopardy of a $17,000 penalty, a district spokesman said this week.

Jim Widner, the district administrative services manager, blamed the increase, 11% above what the district has been allocated at mid-month, on the recent heat wave. But he added that reduced water consumption for the remainder of the month could stave off the penalty levied by the district’s water wholesaler, the Metropolitan Water District of Orange County.

“It just got real hot and everyone used more water,” Widner said. “We know that and we thought maybe the rest of the month we could all pull together, maybe skip watering a day or two, and bring the usage level back down.”

Until this month, water use in the district had been down as much as 25% below this year’s monthly allocations, which are already 20% lower than last year, Widner said. October is the first month since February that showed an increase in water use and potential penalty assessments, he said.

Those penalties are assessed at about $300 per acre-foot of water used above the monthly allocation. However, a reward of $100 is also offered for every acre-foot the district uses below the monthly allocation, Widner said. One acre-foot is equivalent to 325,850 gallons of water.

Tips for decreasing water use include skipping watering yards a few days, holding off washing cars, shortening showers, fixing leaky faucets and washing only full loads of clothes or dishes, Widner said. The district also offers free low-flow shower heads and displacement bags for toilets, he said.

So far this month, daily water use in the district has ranged from 6.1 million gallons to 8.9 million gallons, Widner said.

The Capistrano Valley Water District serves about 9,500 customers in San Juan Capistrano and a small portion of Dana Point.