A month ago, I reported that the Eastern Municipal Water District will begin enforcing its "Stop Water Runoff" policy, where it will send out the water police to look for homes with water running off the lawn and into the gutter...

http://www.menifee247.com/2008/07/emwd-plans-to-implement-tiered-water.htm

Today, the Press Enterprise reports on the same, but goes even further to say that the EMWD now has an e-mail address that residents can use to rat on their fellow neighbors...

At Eastern Municipal, which serves about 660,000 people, the water district has set up an e-mail account for residents to report overwatering.

To report runoff: Send an e-mail with exact street address and photo if possible to: conservation@emwd.org

Link...
http://www.pe.com/..../PE_News_Local_S_watercop28.47b28b7.html

Of course, if you're going to report your neighbors to the water district, you better make sure you're running a tight ship, because you don't want the district noticing that you've got some water running off of your property as well.

Labels: Eastern-Municipal-Water-District, Water

The Eastern Municipal Water District will implement a tiered rate structure next year, likely to begin March 2009. The more water you use, the higher the rate you'll pay. Right now, everyone is charged a uniform rate of $1.91 for every 748 gallons used.

The district will take a look at each residence, count how many people are living there, how big the property is, and figure out how much you're supposed to use.

The EMWD will also adjust that amount based on the weather and season.

So if you go above your budgeted limit they'll charge you a higher rate. But if you use less than the limit, they'll still charge you the base rate.

The district will implement this in a two-phase process. Beginning March 2009 with the first phase, the district will identify "customer groups" and come up with average family sizes and lot sizes, and a base rate for each group. In the months following, they'll come up individual rates for each specific residence, and implement those rates by January 2010.

I contacted Peter Odencrans, the media contact for the EMWD to get some more specifics. I asked if the district will be taking into account residences with swimming pools. He said the district did some studies on this and found that the typical family swimming pool uses up about as much as water as a similarly sized patch of lawn. Sounds like they won't factor in your swimming pool.

I also asked how they planned to figure out how many people live in each residence. They don't have a plan to figure that out just yet. They also don't plan to hire any extra employees, therefore they won't be spending a lot of money to figure this out. I asked if they might be including a questionnaire in our water bills, but he again stated that the district doesn't have a plan on this yet.

Another question I asked was how the district will define "customer groups" for the first phase implementation. Odencrans didn't quite have an answer on that either. I wondered if these group were defined by geographic region, current usage, or what.

Presently, the average residence across the district uses about 13,464 gallons of water each month, which is equal to 18 billing units. 1 unit equals 748 gallons. If you look at your water bill, you'll see that the EMWD charges you by the number of "billing units".

So, if you're currently using more than 18 units per month, should you be concerned about getting hit with higher rates? Don't know. Larger properties, and larger families will warrant more billing units. You could be living by yourself in a single-wide trailer and find that 18 units per month is too much. But if you're a family of four, living in a 2,000 sq ft home, on a 6,000 sq ft lot, and you're using 40 billing units per month, then you might have cause for concern.

You can read more about this here...
http://www.emwd.org/news/news-archives/news_08/07-11-08_Tiered%20Rates.pdf

Stop Water Runoff Policy

The EMWD also sent out a friendly reminder yesterday that beginning September 1, they'll be enforcing their new water runoff policy.

The policy is that if they see watering running off of your residence, and into the gutter, they're going to stiff you with some penalties.

Here's the warnings and fines...

• 1st violation: Written warning


• 2nd violation: Final written warning


• 3rd violation: $100 surcharge on customer's water bill


• 4th violation: $200 surcharge on customer's water bill


• 5th or more violations: $300 surcharge on customer's water bill

I asked Peter Odencrans how they plan to enforce this new policy. He said, "That's the $64,000 question". All they plan to have for the time being is one guy who will spend eight hours a month, driving through neighborhoods looking for water runoff. Considering the district covers an area that reaches Moreno Valley, Hemet, and Temecula, it doesn't sound like they'll be citing many violators.

Odencrans went on to say that they'll be looking for obvious signs, such as moss growing in the gutter.

He also said people are welcome to report their neighbors.

Labels: Eastern-Municipal-Water-District, Water

An article published in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week reports that an environmental group is planning to urge the State Department of Water Resources to end pumping all water out of the San Joaquin Delta on grounds that using water for lawns and agriculture violates California's constitution...

Meanwhile, environmental groups such as the California Water Impact Networkare contending that many of our water-use practices violate the state's constitutional mandate that water be put to beneficial use to the maximum possible extent and that waste or unreasonable use be prevented.They particularly object to pumping water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to irrigate thirsty crops like cotton and alfalfa, as well as lawns. These environmentalists plan to petition the state Department of Water Resources to permanently reduce Delta pumping. If state officials or the courts agree, it would affect virtually every aspect of water use.

The Metropolitan Water District, which supplies all of the water here in SoCal, gets a lot of its water from the San Joaquin Delta. Last year, courts ordered MWD to reduce its takes from the Delta by 40% to save a species of fish. Environmentalists now want that reduced down to zero.

(It would be interesting to see how many environmentalists have lawns)

Nonetheless, our local water district, EMWD, is implementing a "Stop Runoff" program that goes into effect this September 1, where they're going to penalize homeowners that have water running off of their property and into the gutter...

The fact that our water districts are losing water is perhaps the biggest reason why we need to put a halt on further housing development.

Stuffing more people into our new city is going to cause our water district to implement stricter rules, and make water more expensive.

Or put it this way, as homeowners who reside in Menifee, it's in our best interest to preserve what quality of living we already have.

Labels: Water

Last Wednesday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought and issued an Executive Order directing immediate state action to deal with the dwindling water supplies...

Last month, the final Department of Water Resources (DWR) snow survey of 2008 showed snowpack water content at only 67 percent of normal and the runoff forecast at only 55 percent of normal and conditions continue to worsen across California.

Read the Governor's declaration here...

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/9796/

Yesterday, he gave a radio address on the water shortage, where he said the following...

As a result, local governments are rationing water, developments can't proceed and farmers can't plant certain crops.

Which brings me to my point, housing developments in a time of drought.

Even though there are already several housing developments waiting to be built here in Menifee (Audie Murphy, Christensen Ranch, to name a couple), do we have the water to support more homes?

Here's some of my observations..

• If all the people buying brand new properties in Menifee came from within California, then technically it doesn't add to the state's water shortage. But if those people came from out-of-state, it does. Basically, we need to discourage people from moving into California; we just don't have the water to support them.



• City government collects a lot of money from new home permits. Each new residence that developers build represents thousands of dollars for our city's budget. By not allowing further development, we don't collect any of that money. Currently, the County collected all the money from new home permits. Can we afford to halt new developments?



• I want the new city council to enact an ordinance requiring all new home builders to implement drip systems, rather than conventional above-ground water sprinklers. Drip systems simply has water injected into the ground, using below-ground pipes and hoses. This eliminates water runoff, and water evaporation.



• The Executive Order that the governor signed will allocate more state money to the Department of Water Resources to build projects designed to capture more rainwater, and build infrastructure to move more water to where its needed the most. Could this also translate to less money for public schools?

Labels: Water

I know I've been wanting additional police presence here in Menifee, but this is not quite what I had in mind. The Easter Municipal Water District just added two new policies to its "water use efficiency ordiance". Yep, we got us some Water Police comin to town!

The first policy requires "water efficient landscaping" by builders in all the new home developments. The second policy basically allows EMWD to give you a ticket for letting water "runoff" your property. (Awww… and I had just dusted off my Slip N Slide!)

You'll get written warnings on the first and second times, but three strikes and your out… out a hundred bucks that is, on your next water bill. A $200 added fee onto your bill for the fourth violation, and a $300 fee for each violation thereafter.

What I want to know is, can we get some kind of runoff credit for having to live next door to the house with the dead grass that uses NO water? (See my article "No More Dead Grassroots Movement" http://homes.menifee247.com/labels/Menifee-Foreclosures.html)

This new ordinance doesn't start until September, so all you little gutter splashers and puddle jumpers, have at it while you still can!

For more information check out this Valley news article: http://www.myvalleynews.com/story.php?story_id=30612

Labels: Eastern-Municipal-Water-District, Water

Reading the latest article about a potential water shortage (seems like there's an article about this every few months), it makes me wonder why county and city planning departments don't place requirements on home builders to put in xeriscaping.

Xeriscaping is landscaping using drought tolerant plants, namely flora native to our area. It also involves using drip irrigation where water lines drip under the soil, instead of sprinkling on top of it.

You drive through all the neighborhoods around Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, and all you see are lush lawns, and you know everyone is using 50% of their water consumption for their grass.

I have grass in my front yard too, so I'm not yelling too loudly. But I'm at a point where I need something that will cut my utility bills down, and water is one of them.

So the big question is, how do we create a front and back yard that doesn't use grass, but still looks awesome, and still keeps the weeds down?

The Western Municipal Water District, which serves the City of Riverside, has a one acre "demonstration garden" showing you what kinds of plants, ground cover, and shrubs you can use to create a great looking, but low water garden.

It is located at the district's office at 450 E. Alessandro Boulevard in Riverside, California. They'll let you wander in and take a self-guided tour.

You can learn more about their demonstration garden here...
http://www.wmwd.com/landscape.htm

Labels: Water, Xeriscaping

The Governor of California today declared a state of emergency for Riverside County because of $4 million in crop damages caused by a severe drought.

As a result of the emergency, Governor Schwarzenegger directed the Office of Emergency Services to start drilling water wells or modify existing wells in the county.

The Los Angeles Times published an article about this today, even citing poor farming conditions here in Menifee...

For the first time in almost a century, the Menifee farm owned by Mike Bouris' family did not plant a wheat crop this year. Last month, the family decided to stop farming for good.

Bouris said the affect of the drought really hit home last month when he auctioned off his farm equipment.

"I had to sell things for less than 50 cents on the dollar, and that rang home more than anything," said Bouris, whose family farm had planted wheat the previous 85 years.

Read the rest of the article from the LA Times here...
http://www.latimes.com/..../la-me-drought20jul20,1,250990.story

The kind of farming at stake here isn't necessarily the same as irrigation-based farming like that in the Coachella Valley or Imperial Valley. Rather, these are crops that rely on rainfall, mostly wheat destined to feed sheep and cattle.

I'm not sure that wheat farming in Menifee has much of a future anyways. I imagine there are still other places where such farming is expected to continue for years; I just don't know where those places are. I'm no farmer, but it seems to me that the $4 million dollar loss is just a teenie-weenie amount in California's overall farming economy.

But that doesn't make the drought any less severe. To me, the real concern is the Colorado River. Earlier this month, we reported that the water carried by the Colorado is now half of what it used to be just five years ago. This is where most of our usable water comes from, at least here in Riverside County.

As for the Bouris family of Menifee, and other farmers in south west Riverside County, I sympathize for them and wish them well. I think that wheat farming on this half of Riverside County is destined to die anyways. We need the land for urban sprawl. There's way too many immigrants coming here and not enough homes to house them all. I guess you could also argue that we should stop the immigration, but then again that's another topic of discussion.

Labels: Water

2006 apparently produced the lowest amount of rainfall in Riverside County since annual rainfall had been recorded, at just 1.93 inches. That beat out the previous low of 2.94 inches in 1883.

According to the Press Enterprise yesterday, forecasters had expected an El Nino for 2006, but it never materialized...

The immediate cause of the drought is that ocean temperatures and the jet stream did not combine to bring Southern California storm after storm in what was expected to be an El Nino year, experts said.

"An El Nino ... usually gives us wet years, but it didn't work," said Richard Minnich, a UC Riverside earth sciences professor. "One out of four create drought instead of heavy rainfall."

The Press Enterprise went on to say that because of the high rainfall we had in 2005, plus the water at Diamond Valley lake, there's plenty of reserve to last us another drought year.

I always take interest in articles that talk about Southern California drought, and water reserves. Water is the factor that sits above all the else in determining our future in Southern California. It's going to decide how much it costs to live here, if we have to move out, and even our property values.

All of Southern California is naturally a desert region. It's only because of aquaducts, reservoirs, and underground storage, that we can support these large population centers.

The way I see things, the population in Southern California keeps growing because of illegal immigration, more babies being born than people dying, and Americans moving in from other states in search of warmer weather. At some point in time, the demand for water will surpass the available supply, and create problems. Rationing can only go so far.

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin published a water article of its own yesterday, but focuses more on dwindling supplies...

The watershed area of the Colorado River is in its eighth year of drought and is now supplying half the amount of water it did five years ago, said Andy Sienkiewich, resource implementation manager for the MWD.

The other primary imported-water area, the Sacramento Delta, only provides 60 percent of its normal supply because its source of water, the Sierra Nevada snowpack, is about a third of its usual size, Atwater said.

My question is, could Southern California ever reach a point where the population becomes so huge, that we just can't import enough water to support everyone?

Labels: Water, Weather

Apparently, the Metropolitan Water District, which sells water to our very own Eastern Municipal Water District, will be adding fluoride to the water.

According to the Press Enterprise, last week...

Some tap water has natural levels of fluoride, and beginning in October, the Metropolitan Water District, which serves much of the Inland area, will begin to fluoridate its water, a measure to help reduce tooth decay.

The Press Enterprise article mentioned this as part of a report on increasing frequency of children with tooth decay problems. The article didn't necessarily cite unfluoridated tap water as the problem, but rather, eating too much sweets, and not enough teeth brushing.

Fluoridated tap water is something I grew up with, and while I never had a cavity in my life (yes it's true), I credit frequent tooth brushing as my dental savior. Looking back at my childhood in the 1970s and 80s, it seems like all I ever ate was candy, soda, ice cream, pastries, and anything else that ruins teeth. And all my friends ate this stuff too. I don't think kids today are eating any worse than 30 years ago.

If anything, parents are not placing enough importance on health and fitness, which includes dental care. Brushing my teeth twice a day was the absolute minimum my mother would tolerate, and then she'd complain that I brushed them too quickly.

Personally, the idea of a "quasi-government agency" trying to address an epidemic by adding chemicals to the water gets into that "Orwellian" thing. There are quite many people who will tell you that fluoride in the water is actually dangerous. Check out "Fluoride Action Alert".

The Metropolitan Water District is a pretty large district. They provide water to much of Southern California. It's pretty hard to avoid them. The soda fountain at any restaurant around here, is using their water, for example.

If you like fluoridated water, then take heart. If you don't, then I guess you'll have to head for the hills.

Labels: Eastern-Municipal-Water-District, Water

A press released issued from the Metropolitan Water District today reports that normal water delivery was restored at the Robert A. Skinner water treatment plant, about nine hours after a malfunction caused temporary reductions to water agencies serving Riverside and San Diego Counties.

Full operations resumed by 6 p.m. The malfunction, which began at 9:15 a.m., caused treated water to enter an emergency outflow pipe that empties into a nearby creek.

"We are pleased both by the quick work of our dedicated staff and the close cooperation with the water agencies we serve," said Debra Man, Metropolitan's chief operating officer. "The good news is that Metropolitan and the water agencies served by our Skinner treatment plant had already developed contingency plans to handle a scenario very similar to the one we experienced today. The plan worked."

I doubt any homes or businesses noticed any outage, but I thought I'd pass it along since it's not all that far from us.

Labels: Skinner-Treatment-Plant, Water

The Eastern Municipal Water District announced earlier this week that water bills will increase for most customers.

If the average monthly water bill for Menifee residents was $34.46, it will now be $36.04 beginning January 1, 2005, according to a chart published by the EMWD.

The price hike is due to an increase in price for imported water from the Metropolitan Water District, as well as a 3.3 percent adjustment based on last year’s Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Labels: Eastern-Municipal-Water-District, Water