District adopts budget-based rate structure

Beginning January 1, 2011, the District is implementing a Tiered Rate Structure based on property specific Water Budgets. Tiered rates provide customers with an economic incentive to use water efficiently and pass on the higher costs associated with conservation programs and development of supplemental water sources to those who use water inefficiently.

Water budgets promote efficient water use by providing enough water for typical, yet efficient, water use indoors and outdoors without penalty. Budgets are property specific and take into account different water use factors depending on whether you have a single-family, multi-family, commercial/industrial/institutional, mixed use, or irrigation-only water account. Since approximately 60 percent of a typical customer’s water use is for irrigation, the water budget focuses on weather and irrigation data, allowing more water in the summer months.

Water budgets allow you to decide how to use your budgeted water. If you want to use more water for a flower garden, you might consider areas of your yard where you can cut back or you could make sure to have water-efficient appliances and implement water-saving practices for your family. Water budgets are about choice. As long as you’re not over watering or wasting water in other ways, you should have plenty of water for your indoor needs and to maintain a healthy landscape.

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District Board Approves Water Use Efficiency Ordinance

The District’s Board of Directors approved Ordinance 100 establishing a Water Use Efficiency and Water Supply Shortage Program at their June 16, 2009 Board Meeting.

The purpose of this ordinance is to provide for increasingly serious stages of water shortages and to define voluntary and mandatory water conservation measures to be implemented during these stages.

The key elements of the District’s Ordinance include:
1. Permanent Mandatory Restrictions that are in effect at all times and if not adhered to represent waste and unreasonable use of water. These measures are designed to optimize water-use efficiency even when there is no water supply shortage. All District customers would be required to adhere to these restrictions throughout the year.

2. Staged Responses to water supply shortages. The ordinance details four levels of District response to escalating water shortages. Depending upon the degree of water supply shortage, the District could enact any of the four levels listed below. This would trigger additional water use efficiency measures for District customers, over and above the permanent measures.

1. Water Watch voluntary measures enacted in times of shortage to achieve a 5 – 15 percent reduction in water use.
2. Level 1 Water Alert mandatory restrictions enacted in times of shortage to achieve a 15 – 30 percent reduction in water use.
3. Level 2 Water Warning mandatory restrictions enacted in times of shortage to achieve a 30 – 50 percent reduction in water use.
4. Level 3 Water Emergency mandatory restrictions enacted in times of shortage to achieve over 50 percent reduction in water use.

3. Enforcement and Penalties will be put in place for failure to comply with any provisions of the Ordinance. First offenses will bring warnings. Subsequent offenses will draw fines increasing up to $500. Noncompliance could be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

This ordinance applies to all District customers. A full copy of the Water Use Efficiency Ordinance can be viewed here:

                        WUE Ordinance

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The District is calling on customers to immediately reduce their water usage by practicing extraordinary water conservation measures listed below.

The request comes on the heels of Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers declaration of a statewide drought and Metropolitan Water Districts issuance of a water supply alert. The alert signals that water . The goal of the reminder is to give customers the opportunity to correct the problem and become better informed about the importance of water conservation.

For information on rebate programs, water use efficiency tips, and District news, visit the Conservation/Rebate page on our web site, stop by our office, or contact our Water Use Efficiency staff at 342-1437.

Here are a few tips to get you started on saving water:

• Turn off the water while brushing teeth and shaving, saving approximately 3 - 6 gallons per day.
• Shorten showers by one or two minutes, saving approximately 5 gallons per day.
• Use dishwashers and clothes washers only when full, saving approximately 15 to 50 gallons per day.
• Repair plumbing and irrigation system breaks, leaks, or other malfunctions as soon as possible.
• Take advantage of District rebate programs and replace high water use fixtures and appliances.
• Use a broom or water conserving pressurized cleaning device to wash driveways, sidewalks, parking areas, patios, or other outdoor areas, saving up to 150 gallons each time.
• Install pool covers and limit the use of misting devices, saving hundreds of gallons per year.
• Irrigate between the hours of 8:00PM and 8:00AM to reduce evaporation, saving approximately 25 gallons per day.
• Avoid over-irrigating areas for long periods of time or until landscape becomes saturated to the point of runoff onto sidewalks, driveways, and all other paved surfaces.
• Limit the time you irrigate using stream rotator-type or gear driven sprinklers to no longer than fifteen minutes per watering day per station, or ten minutes per watering day per station for all other types of sprinklers.
• Turn off irrigation during rain events.
• Install a smart sprinkler irrigation controller, saving approximately 40 gallons per day.
• Perform routine irrigation system checks to detect leaks, overspray, and broken sprinkler heads, saving approximately 500 gallons per month.
• Avoid operating a fountain, pond, or other similar water feature that does not re-circulate the water.
• Plant native plants and use organic mulch to reduce evaporation, saving hundreds of gallons a year.
• For water customers that are restaurants, refrain from serving patrons water unless specifically requested.
• For water customers that are a hotel or motel, provide customers the option of choosing not to have towels and linens laundered daily.
• Avoid operating non-water conserving pre-rinse nozzles in food-preparation establishments.
• Avoid washing vehicles with a hose when the hose does not have a water shut-off nozzle or device.

Four other agencies, which include: South Coast Water District, Moulton Niguel Water District, City of San Juan Capistrano, and City of San Clemente Utilities Division have also pledged funds to study the regional plant. The desalination project took roots in 2006 when the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC) oversaw a test-drilling project at Doheny State Beach. The project showed favorable enough results to pursue an 18-month pilot plant to further test the feasibility of a larger project. 

Construction of the pilot plant is contingent on the number of south county agencies willing to participate. The more participants, the less money each agency would have to contribute. The cost would also be offset by a state grant secured by MWDOC and the possibility of additional state and federal funding.

 “The District’s Board and Commission have long considered desalination a viable water supply option for Laguna Beach.” says Renae Hinchey, LBCWD general manager. However, the cost of pursuing the option on our own has been prohibitive. A regional plant, where costs are shared, benefits not only Laguna Beach ratepayers, but also all of South County. The time is now. Laguna Beach and South County cannot continue to rely on the dependability of imported water supplies.”

For additional information on what the District is doing to secure water for its future, read the District's March/April 2008 issue of Waves included with your bill, or available on line.