For the first time ever, a major water supplier in Santa Clara County will be sending water inspectors into the streets to make sure homes and businesses aren’t wasting water as California’s drought deepens.
The new, stepped-up enforcement action was approved Tuesday by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the South Bay’s largest water wholesaler, after months of dismal water savings by county residents.
“This is unprecedented,” said district Chair Pro Tem John Varela, shortly before the governing board’s unanimous vote. “We are in a water crisis. All 2 million people in this county need to adjust their water use to conform to conservation so that we will have water.”
Violators could face fines of $500 or more.
The district’s crackdown is among a broader push by water agencies across the state to ratchet up savings and shore up supplies as California enters the hot summer months and a third extraordinarily dry year. The depths of the current drought are considered some of the most severe in state history.
Under the policy scheduled to start in Santa Clara County on June 1, contractors hired by Valley Water will be sent to investigate complaints of people violating local water restrictions. Per district policy, outdoor watering is limited to two days per week, watering cannot be done within 48 hours of rain or “mid-day,” and irrigation water can’t overflow onto streets or sidewalks.
If and when a violation is confirmed, the newly hired water inspectors will provide two warnings to the offender. After that, violators will be subject to a fine of $100, a second fine of $250 if the offense is not corrected and a third fine of $500 if need be. Rare instances in which “substantial and intentional water waste” is documented could result in penalties up to $10,000, district officials say.
“We want people to know that we’re serious about this,” Kirsten Struve, assistant officer at Valley Water’s water supply division, told The Chronicle. “We have to get our water use down in the county so we have sufficient water.”
The new rules and fines pertain to the more than 1 million residential and commercial customers in Santa Clara County served by water retailers that get supplies from Valley Water. Among these are the San Jose Water Co. and the cities of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. Communities that don’t get the bulk of their water from the district, including Palo Alto, are not affected.
Water wholesalers like Valley Water don’t typically police the water use of households and businesses. That responsibility usually belongs to the retailers, which regularly interact with their customers through billing and other service matters.
However, officials at Valley Water, who will be working with retailers on enforcement, say the situation has gotten so dire that everyone needs to be involved in making sure water is used wisely.
“It’s the first time we’re stepping in to handle enforcement, but it’s necessary because of the unprecedented drought conditions,” said Neeta Bijoor, the district’s senior water resource specialist.
Despite district calls for 15% voluntary conservation, compared with 2019, water use was up 30% in the county in March, the latest month that records are available. When compared with 2020 water use, which is the state’s benchmark for consumption, use was up 5% in March.
This lack of conservation comes on top of several shortcomings with Valley Water’s supplies. First, the district’s groundwater is running low. Second, the surface water usually purchased from the state and federal water projects isn’t readily available. And lastly, the district’s largest reservoir was drained for earthquake retrofitting.
While Valley Water’s new enforcement tactics will be entirely complaint driven, the district says it’s already receiving about 30 reports of water violations each week. It expects that number to increase once the new policy takes hold and gets more publicity.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the state’s largest wholesaler, which sells to water agencies in Los Angeles and surrounding communities, has also begun taking a more hands-on approach to monitoring the water it sells.
Starting June 1, the water titan plans to make sure its retailers are enforcing a one-day-a-week outdoor watering policy. Local agencies that violate the rule could face fines up to $2,000.
Many water agencies in the Bay Area have already limited when customers can water their lawns and gardens. Additionally, the state has adopted a handful of prohibitions on outdoor watering, including filling ornamental fountains and irrigating after rain, but these rules are seldom enforced.
Some water agencies have gone as far as putting caps on customer consumption, whether the use is outdoor or indoor. Such policies have been common in the North Bay, where supplies have been most scarce.
The East Bay Municipal Water District, which serves Alameda and Contra Costa counties, recently adopted an “excessive use” penalty for water users that exceed certain thresholds. While the limits are fairly generous, on top of a fine, violators will be subject to having their identities revealed per a transparency policy that during last decade’s drought led to widespread public shaming.
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @kurtisalexander
