Water Authority Lowers Conservation Goals After Recent Rains

The San Diego County Water Authority voted Thursday to lower the region’s water conservation goal from 20% to 10% after recent rains bolstered the water supply.

The authority also decided to put off a rate increase slated for July because of the dismal economy.

The decision to lighten up on conservation comes two days after a decision by the Metropolitan Water District of California to increase water distribution to the area because of the increased rainfall.

The 10% target is effective immediately and will probably remain at that rate until the county’s sixth imported-water pipeline is completed in 1997, said Lester A. Snow, general manager of the water authority.

The ruling met mostly with approval, but some officials worried that it could cause conservation efforts to falter.

“We are concerned that some of the headlines have been saying that the drought is over,” Snow said. “In relaxing the drought, we don’t want to give the message that conservation is over. People can’t just forget conservation efforts and go start hosing down their cars or driveways.”

“I am afraid that what we are doing will be misconstrued because officials have said that the drought is over,” said water authority official Cary Wright. “The drought may very well be over for Santa Barbara and other northern counties, but for us, it is still here.”

Precipitation in February and March prompted the State Department of Water Resources to increase its output to the State Water Project and help ease water restrictions on San Diegans.

Combined with normal output from the Colorado River and water stored in local reservoirs, the authority will be able to meet 90% of demand this year, Snow said.

The water authority supplies water to 2.5 million San Diegans, Snow said. Consumers have saved 22 billion gallons of water since conservation efforts began last March, a spokesman for San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor said.

The rate increase was scheduled for July 1 in response to a financial plan established in 1988, but because of the authority’s financial reserves and because the poor economy makes it harder for people to absorb higher costs, it has decided to defer the increase until July of 1993, Snow said. As a result, rates will remain at $55 per acre-foot of raw water and $62 per acre-foot of potable water, Snow said. One acre-foot of water equals 325,872 gallons.

The authority’s original plan called for a $10 rate increase in July of 1992 and a $17 rate increase in 1993 to cover operating costs, Snow said.

That would have amounted to a $1.13 increase on the monthly residential water bill by summer of 1993, Snow said.