LeakBird

(March 5, 2009, The Sacramento Bee)

Sacramento leaders on Tuesday said the city’s enormous thirst for water does not mesh with its Earth-friendly aspirations, and vowed to change.

In a workshop on water conservation, a majority of the Sacramento City Council said aggressive new policies are needed to save water. This may include stronger enforcement of water waste, new landscaping rules, accelerated water-meter installation – perhaps even requiring a retrofit of homes with low-impact appliances before they’re resold.

“I think it’s absolutely critical for this city and this region to be at the forefront … of responsible water use,” said Councilman Rob Fong.

The council directed staff to draft proposed ordinances. These could be enacted as early as June to prepare for a hot summer in the third year of a drought gripping the state.

It marks a dramatic shift from the past, when the city actively opposed basic water conservation programs now common throughout California.

For instance, Sacramento fought – and ultimately failed – to avoid state policies requiring water meter installation. And it has also fallen far behind on a number of conservation promises made in 2000.

By last June, Sacramento had achieved none of 16 conservation goals it promised to meet by 2006 as a member of the Sacramento Water Forum.

Utilities Department employees said Tuesday that Sacramento’s per-capita consumption is now 280 gallons per day – well above California’s average of 192 gallons.

Residents of “the city of Sacramento (are) considered by many to be heavy water users,” said Assistant City Manager Marty Hanneman. “As the state capital, many people are watching us on this issue.”

City leaders, however, are likely to encounter resistance on the way to conservation.

The real estate industry is already poised to fight a proposal to require plumbing retrofits when existing homes are sold. This could add several hundred dollars to the cost of a home sale, though the practice already exists in several other large California cities.

Eric Rasmusson, lobbyist for the Sacramento Association of Realtors, told hundreds of real estate agents at an event Tuesday that the association would resist the proposal.

“We will be trying to let people know if it’s such a laudable goal that it’s unfair to put it on one segment of society: home sellers,” he said. “Listen, the housing industry has been hit enough.”

Rasmusson said agents must “mobilize” against the proposal with letters and visits to city officials.

“I think we can head it off,” he said.

But many Sacramentans are ready for aggressive conservation and wonder why the city isn’t already doing more.

There is growing realization that urban water consumption can harm the rivers that define Sacramento.

Only 56 percent of water consumed for urban purposes in the Sacramento Valley actually flows back into area rivers. The rest is lost to evaporation and plant growth.

Even water that does flow back carries contaminants, and it warms up along the way. Most of the city’s water is drawn from the American River but flows back into the Sacramento, shortchanging habitat in between.

The city may face new pressures to demonstrate it uses water responsibly. The future is likely to bring more water scarcity because of climate change and population growth. State regulators have warned they may punish water users who abuse supplies.

Excessive water use also costs Sacramento money, Hanneman noted, because it requires more energy to purify and pump water.

“Every dollar you invest in water conservation will save the city money,” said Tom Gohring, executive director of the Sacramento Water Forum.

City officials want more tools to enforce water ordinances and educate the public. Many residents don’t know, for instance, about a standing rule that allows landscape watering only on alternate days, and never on Mondays.

Catching violators is difficult because current ordinances require city inspectors to personally witness an act of water waste before issuing a warning. A fine, considered an infraction, can be imposed only after three warnings.

The result, said Utilities Department spokeswoman Jessica Hess, is that inspectors sometimes make 10 visits to a single address to deal with a water-waste complaint. This wastes fuel and staff time.

“I’d like it to be at least a misdemeanor if possible,” Councilman Robbie Waters said. “We have to get these people’s attention by fining them.”

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, doing some quick math, said the city isn’t moving fast enough to install more than 100,000 water meters by the 2025 state deadline.

“We need to talk about how we’re going to improve that,” she said.

The city plans public hearings, probably this spring, on conservation ordinances officials draw up.

(Original Article Here)

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