California began cracking down on Friday for the first time on cities that haven’t met Gov. Jerry Brown’s 25 percent mandatory water conservation rules, issuing fines of $61,000 each to Beverly Hills and three other Southern California water agencies who have failed to hit drought targets.
“Up and down the state, residents and water suppliers are making the necessary sacrifices needed to help California meet its conservation goals,” said Cris Carrigan, enforcement director for the State Water Resources Control Board. “However, some urban water suppliers simply have not met the requirements laid before them. For these four suppliers, it’s been too little too late to achieve their conservation standard.”
The other cities fined $61,000 each are Redlands, in San Bernardino County; Indio, in Riverside County; and the Coachella Valley Water District, also in Riverside County.
No cities in Northern California were fined.
The cities each will have 20 days to appeal the fines to the state water board, and the fines could increase in the months ahead, Carrigan said.
Overall, California’s urban residents reduced water use 26.1 percent in September, compared with September 2013, the baseline year, according to Friday’s data. It was the fourth month in a row that the state has met the governor’s 25 percent mandate. Californians reduced urban water use statewide by 27 percent in August, 31 percent in July and 27 percent in June.
In a rare occurrence, the Bay Area slightly underperformed the state average in September, saving 25 percent. The average per capita residential use by Bay Area residents of 72 gallons per person per day, however, was well under the statewide average of 97 gallons.
Officials in Beverly Hills, one of America’s wealthiest communities and a landmark for movie stars, tourists and lush lawns, said Friday they are working on a public response that will be released later today.
State water officials noted that California remains mired in the fourth year of the worst drought since it became a state in 1850, despite hopes for a wet winter brought on by strong El Niño conditions now in the Pacific Ocean. And although most of the roughly 400 cities, water districts and private water companies affected by the governor’s drought order are doing well, the four singled out Friday for fines have not only missed their targets, but have not issued local fines to residents who are wasting water or set up enough incentives and programs to sufficiently reduce water use.
Beverly Hills, for example, has never hit the 32 percent conservation target the state assigned it earlier this year.
It has used 175 million gallons of water above that target since June, has a per-capita use of 161 gallons per person per day — well above the state average of 97 — and has been too slow take actions to improve conservation, state water officials said Friday.
“I’m sure there are people there who are very conscientious and doing their part,” said Carrigan, of Beverly Hills residents. “For those who aren’t and who are wasting water, I would say you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
