Fresno, Clovis get relief on water-saving requirements as state lowers targets

The state Water Resources Control Board has extended a set of mandatory water-conservation standards that were set to expire this month. But in addition to continuing the regulations through October, the board also approved adjustments that will lower the savings threshold for most communities throughout the state – including the central San Joaquin Valley.

Tuesday night’s decision by the board, driven at least in part by above-normal rainfall and snowfall across the state so far this winter, is good news for cities like Fresno and Clovis. Those cities have struggled to meet the benchmarks set last spring as the state came out of its fourth straight winter of below-normal rain and snowfall and faced a summer of extreme drought conditions. Clovis has been required to cut its monthly water consumption by 36 percent compared to the same month of 2013, while Fresno confronted a cut of 28 percent.

The cumulative water savings last year from June through December in Fresno was 26.8 percent, while Clovis’ savings were 31 percent. Under the new rules – which provide credits and adjustments for climate, growth and development of drought-resilient water supplies such as recycling – Fresno would apparently achieve its new conservation target of 26 percent, while Clovis would come closer to reaching its adjusted standard of 34 percent. The 26 percent target “is more in line with what we’ve been able to do” with conservation efforts, said Mark Standriff, a spokesman for the city of Fresno.

“Changes to slightly reduce the conservation standards of urban water suppliers located in drier climates would help save trees that improve air quality, shade homes, provide wildlife habitat and enhance quality of life,” according to a digest of the regulation. “Changes to allow adjustments for growth would provide equity for existing water customers. Changes to allow for reduced conservation standards where new, local, resilient supplies have been established would acknowledge investments made in these resources specifically for times like these.”

Across the Valley, the largest adjustment is 10 percentage points for the Pinedale County Water District, which serves the Pinedale neighborhood of northwest Fresno. For that district, the new rule takes the water conservation standard from 36 percent down to 26 percent. Two points of that are attributed to the climate adjustment.

There’s no such modification for the city of Dinuba, however. According to the water board, the Tulare County town’s water-saving standard will remain set at 32 percent.

“For most of the communities in (Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties), the main credit is for climate, and some may get growth credit on top of that,” said Max Gomberg, the water board’s manager for climate and conservation. Once the extension is reviewed and approved by the state’s Office of Administrative Law, Gomberg added, the new standards will take effect on March 1 for cities that can quickly round up and provide their climate and growth data to the state, but for most, the rules will likely become effective on April 1.

April is also when the water board anticipates taking another look at how much rain and snow has fallen and determine whether further changes to the conservation standards are appropriate. “I can’t say it’s likely there will be further easing,” Gomberg said. “That will only be the case if we continue to get plenty of rain and snow.”

George Kostyrko, a spokesman for the water board, said the water board wants to make sure it has a good sense of the state’s available water supply. “The board made a commitment in the meeting (Tuesday) to revisit the regulations in late April or early May and determine the need for ongoing conservation efforts,” Kostyrko said, “based on what we have in storage in both snowpack and reservoirs.”

The state is cautious because one good winter is not generally considered enough to bust a drought of the magnitude that California has endured over the past four years. “Last year, for example, we had a good December, but in January the spigot turned off” on storms bringing precipitation to the state, Gomberg said. “If we don’t happen to get any more rain or snow this winter, we’ll have a situation in April where we’re right back in the midst of a very severe drought.”

Cities or their water suppliers that miss their mandatory conservation marks are subject to potential penalties of up to $500 per day for noncompliance. Those who fall short by one to five percentage points of their goal are sent warning letters. From five to 15 percentage points, the state sends a notice of violation and an informational order giving them two weeks to respond with information on water consumption and conservation efforts. Communities that miss the mark by more than 15 percentage points receive notices of violation and conservation orders.

“Before issuing fines, we take several factors into account – primarily the distance from the conservation standard, but also (the community’s) size, demographics and other factors,” said Matthew Buffleben, chief of the water board’s Special Investigations Unit. To date, the state has issued fines to four water suppliers, all in Southern California: the cities of Beverly Hills and Redlands, the Indio Water Authority and the Coachella Valley Water District. Each of the complaints filed in late October sought fines of $61,000 for 122 days of violations from June 1 through Sept. 20. “Beverly Hills has paid the fine, while we are in negotiations with the other three communities,” Buffleben said.

“Although we could base (fines) on monthly performance, we are much more focused on the cumulative standard,” he added.

The conservation benchmarks apply to urban water suppliers or cities with at least 3,000 customers. Among Valley communities, the largest margin between consumption and conservation has been in Hanford, where the cumulative savings from June through December last year was 14.3 percent, almost 14 full percentage points below the original standard of 28 percent. Under the adjusted standard, the city’s conservation target is 24 percent – still about 10 percentage points over what it has achieved to date.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Fresno, Clovis get relief on water-saving requirements as state lowers targets."