“When it comes to the financial side, water agencies will be vulnerable to conservation-based reductions in demand as long as we are predominantly variable in revenue (water sales) and fixed in costs (infrastructure investment),” said Fernando Paludi, general manager of the Trabuco Canyon Water District. And by slapping penalties on people and businesses who used more than the allotted ration of water, even if it was, indeed, 36% lower.įurious residents mounted a recall against board members and tossed them out. Yorba Linda tried to address the gap mid-drought by dramatically raising the basic service charge, from $16.77 to, gulp, $41.57. So the consumer’s reward for using less water may be to pay more for it. That can leave a gaping hole in their budgets. Here’s the problem: When water districts/cities sell less water, they have less revenue coming in.

(File photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG) This was draconian for some and spawned bona fide water revolutions, perhaps nowhere more so than in the little Yorba Linda Water District, which had to slice use by 36%. as well as prohibitions in many places on home car washing, sidewalk spraying, runoff and a requirement to swiftly fix leaks.īack in 2015, the state issued conservation edicts - an exact percentage reduction that each city/district had to achieve or face painful penalties. Restrictions on outdoor landscape watering are the first front in this water war - no more than two days per week in Santa Ana, three days in Orange, four days in the Mesa Water District, etc. Only one - Mesa Water District - reduced usage over those years, by 15.6%. There are many reasons why this April was so much thirstier – more on that in a minute – but the agencies that saw the biggest jumps were: San Juan Capistrano, up 61.5% Trabuco Canyon Water District, up 43.9% Yorba Linda Water District, up 42.8% Anaheim, up 33.7% Irvine Ranch Water District, up 32.7% and the Santa Margarita Water District and the city of San Clemente, both up 32.6%. Orange County’s cities and water districts used 25% more water this April than in April 2020, even with the state’s emergency regulations bearing down, urging us to shrink water use up to 20%. Happy Summer of the Drought, version 2022, folks.īe warned: It might hurt a bit. Soon we’ll all be using less water - and some of us may be lucky enough to pay more for the privilege!

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