As City Attorney Michael Aguirre pushes for the declaration of a Stage 2 water emergency in San Diego, the City Council is poised to address several water-related issues during a public hearing on Monday, Oct. 8.
Council members will hear a report on the water supply from the County Water Authority and address a “pass-through” for water and sewer rate increases. The increases are set to take effect Jan. 1, if approved.
The public hearing announcement from Council President Scott Peters’ office came after Aguirre held a press conference Sept. 21 to urge the City Council to declare a Stage 2 water emergency in light of the looming water shortages expected next year.
Aguirre said current drought conditions in Southern California ” combined with a recent federal court decision to restrict the amount of water pumped out of the San Francisco Bay estuary ” should be enough for city officials to implement the alert.
“Of all the places in the state of California that this is a problem, San Diego is the number one city,” Aguirre said, adding that San Diego imports about 90 percent of its water from the Northern California estuary and the Colorado River.
To declare a water emergency, the city must hold a public hearing unless an event occurs that immediately endangers the city’s water system, according to a memorandum from Aguirre’s office to the Public Works Department.
The Sept. 20 memorandum states that there is sufficient cause to declare a water shortage emergency and to implement a Stage 1 alert, which calls for the voluntary conservation of water
Also outlined in the city’s municipal code, a Stage 2 water alert calls for mandatory compliance with public water conservation efforts.
During a Stage 2 alert, the city permits landscape irrigation only during designated hours of certain days, according to language in the municipal code.
The washing of automobiles, boats, planes and other large vehicles is allowed if the person uses a handheld bucket or a hose with a nozzle to easily control water flow. Commercial car washes are also permitted to operate if the businesses use high-pressure water equipment.
As part of the alert, the overfilling of swimming pools, spas and similar equipment is prohibited. People are also asked not to wash down the sidewalk and to stop all unnecessary water use on construction sites.
Although the language in the municipal code calls for “mandatory” compliance, Aguirre said cutbacks would most likely be self-enforced.
“I’m asking you to make a very significant reduction in the amount of water that you’re consuming starting now,” he said.
In a memo to the mayor and the City Council dated Sept. 4, Aguirre urged city officials to address water supply and wastewater treatment options. In the memo, Aguirre said the city must update its water reclamation plan every five years. The plan was last updated in 2000, according to the memo.
Aguirre said he trusts San Diegans will make the right decision to conserve water if government representatives “set an example” by acknowledging the severity of the problem.
Bill Harris, a representative from Mayor Jerry Sanders’ office, said Sanders has issued a memorandum to several departments to return within 90 days with reports on their individual water conservation efforts. Sanders also strongly urged San Diegans to increase their personal water conservation during a press conference on Sept. 20, Harris said.
“[The mayor] is asking people to voluntarily take the kinds of steps you would see in an emergency declaration,” Harris said. “If we work hard now, we can avoid issues in the future.”
He said water restrictions may not be necessary if the region gets plenty of rain and snow during the winter months.
Restrictions are also contingent on the details of the final decision of federal Judge Oliver Wanger to reduce the amount of water pumped out of the San Francisco-San Joaquin River Delta.
Wanger made the decision because of the danger overusing the estuary poses to the endangered delta smelt fish, according to court documents. The ruling could reduce water supplies to the San Diego by about 10 to 15 percent, according to city water department officials.
“A drought response plan is available should the mayor determine that a water emergency needs to be declared “¦ but we’re not there yet,” said Alex Ruiz, assistant director of the city’s water department.
San Diego currently keeps about seven months’ worth of water in reserve as required by the municipal code, Ruiz said.
One person can save the most water by reducing individual and larger landscape irrigation using the landscape water calculator posted on the water department’s website. A person can reduce consumption by about 10 percent with little inconvenience to their daily life by using the water calculator, he said.
For more information, visit www.sandiego.gov/water. For questions about the city’s water conservation program, call (619) 515-3500.