Everyone is concerned that we're heading into another drought year. We all wonder if we're doing enough to conserve, does the state have sufficient modern infrastructure to store water for the state's growing population, has there been appropriate balancing of environmental and farming concerns, and will the state figure out how to spend our bond monies wisely for water storage and recharge? While Visalians cannot solve the statewide drought problems, we can certainly do our part to conserve the local water supply.
At a recent Visalia city council meeting, the council revisited our water conservation ordinance which we implemented 12 months ago. We are currently on stage 4 water restrictions, which provides for no watering of landscaping in January and February, once a week in March and April, two times a week in May, three times a week from June through September, two times a week in October, and one time per week in November and December. Some on the council argued that a more punitive approach should be followed, such as by Cal Water raising their rates which would cause people to use less water. My counter to this was that the council had spent the last year informing the state PUC that Cal Water should not raise their rates further because they are becoming unaffordable, only Cal Water profits when rates are raised, rates can go up but rarely come back down. Instead, why not reward those who conserve by rebates! Another argument was made that Visalians are not complying with the current water ordinance, and anecdotal stories were told by council members who had seen watering take place at improper times. However, I suggested that most Visalians want to do their part to conserve, while occasionally mistakenly watering at the wrong times. Visalians decreased their water usage by 10% this last year rather than the state's "20%" goal. However, Visalia has been under stage 3 water restrictions since the early 1990's, and has been cognizant of conserving water for many years, unlike other areas of our county that are just now beginning to address the issue. An interesting statistic is that total Cal Water pumping in Visalia in 2014 was 29,686 acre feet, the first time pumping was below 30,000 acre feet since 2001. Remember, back in 2001, Visalia's population was around 93,000, while we are now at 130,000; many more people today are using much less water than in the past.
As part of the initial implementation last year of stage 4 water restrictions, code enforcement first gave a written warning to any violator, with a second warning being accompanied by a $100.00 fine, increasing to $500.00 for multiple violations. Since this ordinance was enacted, according to city staff, about 2,800 written warnings have been given out, but only 189 citations issued. Most of these citations were first time offenders, with few repeat offenders. I would suggest that 189 citations issued over 12 months to a population of 130,000 people is indicative that the vast majority are trying to comply in good faith with the water restrictions, once they learned of them.
These statistics put into perspective the ongoing upgrade of the Visalia water conservation plant (sewer), which when completed next year will treat liquid waste such that it will come out 99% pure, being fit for farming and all purposes other than human consumption. As part of this upgrade, the water conservation plant will deliver 10,000 to 12,000 acre feet of recycled water on our west side to the Tulare Irrigation District, in exchange for receiving 5,000 to 6,000 acre feet of fresh water from the east side in years when surface water is available, to recharge our ground water levels. Thus, under this visionary project, we will be replenishing about 20% of the ground water which Visalians consume annually. The balance of the recycled water will be used to irrigate city farmland and parks. The completion of this project will come none too soon.
The majority of the council voted to amend our current ordinance to further tighten restrictions by deleting the one watering day per week in December and by increasing citation penalties by 25%. Additionally, Governor Brown has now announced statewide water restrictions, which at very least should get all cities on board to conserve. I would encourage all Visalians to be mindful of these changes and to comply. More importantly, I applaud your efforts to conserve water in the past, and know that Visalians can be trusted to continue to conserve water in the future.
Warren Gubler
Visalia Vice Mayor
