Exceeding of allotment prompts prospect of mandatory rationing, triggers conservation campaign

By Tim Seyfert, Town Crier Staff Writer

When it comes to taking care of her garden, Los Altos Hills resident Pat Ley pays special mind to one thing in particular: water.

For the past 20 years, the British-born Ley has tended to her English garden with what she describes as “a conservative approach.” Using such features as drought-resistant plants and a soft spray sprinkler system, Ley manages to maintain her salvias and asters while still keeping her monthly water bill reasonably low.

“There’s no reason to be excessive with water in order to have a nice yard,” Ley declared. “I don’t see the need for it.”

Even so, it seems not everyone in the town shares Ley’s enthusiasm for conservation.

According to the latest figures from the Purissima Hills Water District, Los Altos Hills has been exceeding its longtime allotted water use limit since 1993.

The PHWD, which supplies water to two-thirds of the town, reported that Los Altos Hills is presently over its use allocation by 26 percent, said district president Jan Fenwick. The other one-third of the town not under the jurisdiction of Purissima Hills is supplied by the Santa Clara Valley Water District and through private wells operated by the California Water Service Company.

Last year the PHWD saw an overuse in its service area of 35 percent compared with 34 percent in 2001.

Fenwick said the main reason for overuse is attributed to the high quantities of water used to irrigate expansive home landscaping.

“The newer homes in particular, which are being built into estates with massive lawns and lots of landscaping, are using a lot of water,” Fenwick said. “The high bills aren’t really an issue for (those residents).”

Though she wouldn’t give specific numbers, Fenwick added that there are, at present, a number of homes with monthly water bills exceeding $2,000.

“We have several high water users in town who pay extraordinarily high fees,” she said.

Last week Fenwick brought the issue of high water use to the attention of the Los Altos Hills City Council. They pledged to make water conservation a priority.

“A $1,000 water bill is chump change to many of these people who are going over the limit,” said Mayor pro tem Mike O’Malley at a special town hall meeting last Thursday. “This is a disaster waiting to happen. As a responsible government, we should deal with this.”

The PHWD is one of 29 agencies under the Bay Area Water Users Association that purchase water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The SFPUC draws its supply from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir system in Yosemite National Park. The water limit for all the Bay Area agencies was established in the early 1980s through a collective agreement.

Though the rate of water overuse has dropped nearly 10 percent since last year, PHWD General Manager Patrick Walter said it’s not enough to change what’s shaping up to be an inevitable crisis.

“In a number of years there won’t be enough water to supply everyone in the Hills,” Walter said. “At this rate, Hetch Hetchy will reach its capacity by 2009-2010, and it will become especially difficult when we hit our next drought. There will definitely be consequences.”

One of those consequences, according to Fenwick, would be imposing mandatory water rationing that would include a steep penalty for going over the allotted limit. Another would be to have to rely on outside agencies to supplement the town’s water supply.

“There needs to be some kind of punishment,” said Mayor Emily Cheng at last week’s town hall meeting. “If we had a high penalty for high users, that would certainly help.”

At this point, the PHWD is relying on less drastic measures to persuade its high-using customers to conserve. One such measure is attaching an information sheet in each bill listing guidelines on how to cut down on water use. Also, whenever the district sees any resident using a lot of water, it sends a representative out to the property in question to investigate the cause. If needed, the representative will fix any problems, such as a leak, but Fenwick said the water district can’t force residents to change their water use practices. “We could only advise them on the facts,” she said.

The water district isn’t ruling out positive reinforcement, either. Fenwick said she would like to institute an award system for customers who make significant water saving changes, particularly when it comes to landscape irrigation.

No concrete plans are on the table yet. But after last week’s meeting, the city council seemed eager to push things forward.

“The Hetch Hetchy thing could go at any minute,” O’Malley said, referring to the reservoir reaching its capacity. “You would think that in a town that thinks of itself as so cutting edge, we would have a plan to ration. This is something that needs to be addressed.”

As for Ley, she sees only one possible conclusion given the direction things are heading.

“It’s going to take a situation like a drought to get people to realize that they need to limit their water use,” she said. “In the end, it’s everyone who will suffer.”

For more information on water conservation, call the Purissima Hills Water District at 948-1217.