Drought Is Over, but Conservation Isn’t : Environment: Ordinances are gone. But residents’ water-saving habits have not disappeared down the drain. And rate structures encourage limiting use.

Gone are the local ordinances that banned car washing and sidewalk hosing. Gone are lawn-watering schedules that match house numbers. Gone is Anaheim’s water cop, who patrolled the street looking for water wasters.

Fountains are flowing again, but conservation habits have not gone down the drain.

Four months after the drought was declared over, mandatory measures restricting water use in Orange County have disappeared, yet residents are still using less water than before the drought began. Some habits residents learned during the drought have stuck, while technological advances mean people can save without even trying.

Overall consumption for the past year jumped 5% from the previous year, but was 10% less than consumption in 1989-90, the benchmark year county officials use to measure conservation. In June, 1993, Orange County used 1.3% less water than the previous June and 6% less than June, 1990.

“When I go out and talk to community groups, they’re still talking about the little things they do to save water,” said Keith Coolidge, spokesman for the Municipal Water District of Orange County. “They don’t hose off the driveway, they only water their gardens three times a week . . . I had one guy tell me that he no longer runs the water when he shaves--he was really excited about that.”

But the measures that distinguished the drought--such as putting a bucket under the faucet while warming up the bath, then dumping that water on house plants--are no more. “Now,” Coolidge said with a sigh, “people are throwing that out the window--literally.”

Though they have abandoned rules governing how and when customers may use water, most districts in Orange County retain a rate structure that encourages conservation: Those who use more water pay more for all the water they use.

In addition, districts are reducing consumption by giving away appliances that save water all by themselves.

“Whether people are trying to conserve or not, they’re using less water,” said Newport Beach Utilities Director Jeff Staneart, pointing out that state-of-the art dishwashers, washing machines, faucets, shower heads and toilets all use less water than their predecessors.

“Just because we had one wet year doesn’t mean that the problems are gone. We don’t know what next year will be like,” stressed Susie Brown, spokeswoman for Anaheim’s utilities department, whose 56,000 customers used the same amount of water this June as last. “It’s more cost-effective for us to fund conservation programs.”

The telephone number for Anaheim’s “water cop” has been disconnected, but the city has revamped the job to provide free energy audits for anyone who asks. The city gives away low-flow shower heads, faucet aerators, booklets filled with landscape conservation tips, and bags to place in toilet tanks so they use less water.

This spring, Anaheim has given rebates for 4,400 low-flow toilets residents bought to replace older models. And in May, the city gave away 638 toilets through a Katella High School program that also raised nearly $10,000 for school activities. Further helping cut consumption is the aggressive conservation program at Disneyland, one of the city’s largest water customers.

“The drought really scares me--we all have to do something,” Anaheim Hills resident Ilse Straub, 49, said as she gave the bushes adorning her front lawn their once-weekly squirt. “I know right now the water is OK again, but I watch it. We think about it an awful lot.”

Straub’s sprinkler goes on for just three minutes a day, always in the morning. She runs the washing machine with less water, turns off the faucet while brushing her teeth, and never, ever hoses down her driveway.

Peter, 26, one of Straub’s three sons, spread suds all over his white Jeep Cherokee before dousing it with short, pointed, jabs of water. Smiling, he explained: “It’s just little things.”

Many Orange County districts offer toilet rebates like Anaheim’s, but the Capistrano Valley Water District, which has 10,000 customers in San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, had the most aggressive giveaway program.

Capo Valley expects to save 20 million gallons of water a year because of the 1,100 toilets the district gave away as the drought ended in February. Funded through a conservation credit Capo Valley earned during the drought and a grant from the Metropolitan Water District, the toilets use only 1.6 gallons for each flush, compared to 5 or 7 gallons a flush in some of the old models.

About 80% of Capo Valley’s customers fall into the conservation category and thus pay the district’s lowest water rate, general manager Jim Widner said.

“They are less vigilant, I suppose, about turning the sprinklers off sooner,” Widner said of his customers. “I don’t think they have abandoned the idea of conserving water, but they’re not getting newsletters and radio announcements urging them to save, so I think it’s human nature to relax a little bit.”

Ron Young, general manager of the Irvine Ranch Water District--where average monthly consumption among the 130,000 customers is down 16% from five years ago--said he can see the conservation ethic as he drives around the county.

“I see less water running over curbs and onto streets,” Young said. “I would hope the simpler things--not letting water run when you brush your teeth, or when you’re just working on the dishes, scrubbing them--I hope those would stick.”

Most of those things have stuck for Jean Carlson and her family, who live in Irvine’s Greentree area. Over the past four years, the Carlsons replaced their lawns with a cement basketball court, a covered spa, stone paths, wooden decks and chips of tree bark.

There is plenty of green, but Carlson is careful to select plants that don’t drink much. Succulents sit in pots, and in the shade, for water efficiency. Carlson waters the grass that is left, with a hose, at 5 a.m. every other day.

“I don’t see any of us really washing down our driveways, I don’t see anybody watering during the day,” Carlson said, praising her neighbors. “Before, we would stand out and water all day long and talk.

“I’m not saying we’re models,” Carlson said with a laugh, admitting that her three teen-age sons take multiple showers daily because they play sports. “It’s not something we sit around the dinner table and talk about, but we do try to conserve.”

Water Consumption Climbs

After declining for two years, total water consumption in Orange County turned upward in fiscal year 1992-93, increasing nearly 5% from the previous year. But the past year’s usage is still down 10% from fiscal 1989-90, the year county officials use as a benchmark to measure conservation. Consumption is measured in acre-feet, an acre-foot equaling 326,000 gallons, or enough for an average family for two years. 1992-93: 547,501

ANNUAL CYCLE OF CONSUMPTION Water consumption in Orange County follows a cycle. Demand during the winter months is light, grows during the spring and normally peaks in July and August. In thousands of acre-feet June, 1993: 54,344

WATER USERS Residents of single-family homes are the heaviest water users in the county, accounting for almost half the water consumed. Single-family homes: 45% Commercial/industrial: 23% Multifamily homes: 18% Public buildings/grounds: 9% Agriculture: 5%

MONTH BY MONTH Almost half the water used during the year is consumed during just the four heaviest months--typically, June through September.

June-September: 43% October-January: 28% February-May: 29% Source: Municipal Water District of Orange County; Researched by JODI WILGOREN / Los Angeles Times