Thousand Oaks Eases Water Restrictions : Drought: The city is the first in the county to take such an action. It reduces mandatory cutbacks from 20% to 10%.

Thousand Oaks became the first city in Ventura County to ease drought restrictions on water use Wednesday, a move that is expected to be followed by at least three other cities.

The easing of restrictions, which took effect one day after a late Tuesday night City Council vote, reduces mandatory water cutbacks from 20% to 10%.

In addition, the council authorized reduced penalties for excessive water use, lowering the previous $3 surcharge to $2 for every excess hundred cubic feet of water.

“I’m glad we’re able to start rolling them back,” Mayor Robert E. Lewis said Wednesday. However, Lewis said he does not think that city residents should begin wasting water.

“It’s important to tell everyone the drought’s not over,” he said. “I think there’s a feeling that we need to maintain some aspect of rationing.”

The council’s decision is the first relief that Thousand Oaks residents have seen in nearly a year. On the same date last year, the city adopted mandatory cutbacks forcing residents to trim water use or pay more for the water use.

Despite some initial complaints, city water customers managed last year to cut back by about 29%, officials said.

Thousand Oaks decided to give city residents a break because of a decision by the area’s chief water supplier to ease mandatory cutbacks on water use.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California decided last week that it would increase its deliveries of supplies from the State Water Project because of recent rainfall in Northern California.

About 450,000 people in Ventura County are supplied by the MWD through the Calleguas Municipal Water District. Calleguas supplies all or some of the water in Camarillo, Oxnard, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

Thousand Oaks utilities director Don Nelson said city residents should see the changes on their next water bill. Customers will be able to use more water without being charged a penalty and those who were expected to pay penalties may get refunds, he said.

Thousand Oaks residents who had petitioned the city for increased water allocations said they welcomed the relaxed restrictions.

Resident Marilyn Murdoch last year asked the city to increase her family’s allotment after being penalized one month about $25 for using too much water.

“It’s certainly going to be better,” she said, “but we’re not going to make drastic changes.”

Residents in Simi Valley and Oxnard are likely to see some easing of restrictions in coming months, water officials said.

In Simi Valley, the city has managed to achieve a 20% reduction in use by charging customers higher rates for using more water, said Michael Kleinbrodt, deputy director of public works.

With MWD’s decision, the city will examine water rates to determine whether conservation requirements can be eased. However, any decreases in rates would not be made until May, Kleinbrodt said.

“This is very new right now, and we’re still in a conservation mode,” he said.

In Oxnard, officials will look at reducing mandatory cutbacks of 15% to 10% next month, City Manager Vern Hazen said. Before the recent rains, city residents had managed to cut back by about 12% to 13%.

“We have to take a hard look at what the usage has been,” Hazen said.

The recent rainfall has also improved the picture for Ventura and Ojai, cities dependent on local reservoirs and underground sources of water.

In Ventura, residents have been forced to make severe cutbacks since March, 1990, when the City Council adopted an ordinance requiring residents to trim water use by 30% or face penalties on their bills.

Councilman Tom Buford, who chairs the council’s water committee, said the city is expected on Friday to issue a set of recommendations on whether to ease those restrictions. The recommendations are scheduled to be reviewed by the City Council on March 30.

Last year, residents cut water use for an 18-month period by about 38%, officials said.

In Ojai, the five-member board that runs the Casitas Municipal Water District will review a two-year-old ban on new water hookups next week, manager John Johnson said. The district supplies 60,000 residents in Ojai and Ventura.

The picture has improved for Casitas because recent rains raised the level of water at Lake Casitas. It has risen by about 41,000 acre-feet since the beginning of the year, Johnson said.

“They may allow some adjustments if there’s a view that there’s more water there to be sold,” he said. “It may be relaxed a little.”