Simi Valley to Refund $288,000 in Water Fines : Drought: More than 7,400 residents are expected to get their money back in the form of credits on their future bills.

Thousands of Simi Valley residents who were fined for excessive water use during the last six months will receive refunds totaling $288,000 because the city was able to reduce its water consumption by 20% this past summer, officials said.

The amount of money being refunded is the largest water rebate that has been announced by any city in the county, according to city and water officials.

More than 7,400 Simi Valley homeowners are expected to get refunds in the form of credits on future water bills beginning in late December or January, said Michael Kleinbrodt, chief deputy of the Public Works Department.

The future credits, ranging from $1 to several hundred dollars, will vary among customers, Kleinbrodt said.

The Simi Valley City Council, acting in its role as a county water works district, approved the refunds at its Monday meeting. The council earlier approved $164,000 in refunds to businesses, which will also become effective by January.

“We made a promise that it was not our intent to get rich off of (our water customers),” Mayor Greg Stratton said. “It’s a matter of keeping our word.”

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies Simi Valley and four other Ventura County cities with all or some of their water, adopted a mandatory water conservation ordinance in April because of severe drought conditions.

The ordinance required that MWD’s member agencies reduce water consumption by 20%. Customers who did not comply with the ordinance were subject to fines.

However, MWD and Calleguas officials agreed that if the conservation rates were met, refunds would be issued.

Don Nelson, director of the Thousand Oaks Utilities Department, which supplies 13,000 residents with water from Calleguas, said the city has received $113,000 in water credits because customers have reduced water consumption an average of 30% since the conservation ordinance went into effect.

However, Nelson said the city is not going to give its customers future credits on their water bills. Instead, he said, the money will be used to keep regular monthly service charges to a minimum and to offset revenue losses from reduced water sales.

Nelson said Thousand Oaks now charges a base rate of $5.50 a month to each of its water customers, compared with $17.06 in Simi Valley.

Officials from the California American Water Co. and the California Water Service Co., which together serve a total of 23,600 residents in Thousand Oaks, have received credits totaling $55,000 because customers have averaged a 25% reduction in water use between April and September. However, since then California American has received a $26,000 fine, and California Water a $50,000 fine for excessive water use.

Officials with both companies said they will probably ask the state Public Utilities Commission if the credits they have received can be used to offset revenue losses. They said they also have plans to ask for a surcharge increase on their current water rates.

James Frandsen, director of Oxnard’s Public Works Department, said his city has also been given substantial credits from Calleguas for water consumption. However, Frandsen said he did not know the exact amount. Like Thousand Oaks, he said Oxnard will not refund money to water users, but will use the money to keep water rates from increasing and to offset revenue losses.

Officials with the cities of Camarillo and Moorpark could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the city of Ventura in August gave credits to 5,600 of the city’s 26,000 water customers who managed to save more than required under the city’s water conservation ordinance, said city spokeswoman Carole Green. She said the credits ranged from a few pennies to more than $100.

She said the city has taken in about $1 million in fines since it adopted its water conservation ordinance in March of 1990. She did not know exactly how much in refunds or credits has been given to customers since then, she said.

Under the ordinance, single-family residences are limited to 294 gallons a day. Apartments, condominiums, townhouses and mobile homes are limited to 196 gallons.

The city, which receives most of its water from Lake Casitas and ground wells, has been among the hardest hit cities in the county by the drought and continues to take a strong stand against water wasters.

This week the Ventura City Council approved an ordinance that would impose a maximum six-month jail sentence and $1,000 fine on anyone squandering water.

“In the past, if the police came up to a vacant house with the water running, they couldn’t go in and turn it off,” Green said. “This provides them with the authority to do that, to protect a precious resource.”