Newport Beach moves to require steeper cuts in water use

Newport Beach lawmakers took a step Tuesday night to try to slash local water use to meet state requirements recently handed down in response to the persisting drought.

The City Council voted unanimously to move to Level 3 of the city’s water conservation plan, meaning residents and business owners would have to sharply reduce their water use or face fines up to $500.

The city is currently at Level 1, which prohibits customers from exceeding their average water use from each billing period in the past three years.

The resolution approved Tuesday will need to pass a second reading of the council on May 26 before it can be enforced. It would take effect immediately.

Under the proposal, households and businesses would have to restrict their water use in each billing period to 75% of their average use for that period in the past three years. Customers also would be barred from watering landscaping between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily and from watering for up to two days after a rainfall.

The council’s vote came on the heels of a State Water Resources Control Board mandate that Newport Beach reduce its water use by 28%. The state ultimately will determine whether the city complied by comparing its total water use between May this year and February next year to its use during that period two years ago.

The state board studied more than 400 water agencies and handed down specific reduction orders for each.

In February, Newport Beach, where water is provided to 67,030 people, used 91 gallons per person per day. Since June, the city has cumulatively reduced its water use by 7.7%, according to state data.

“I think it really is, as we know, an important community endeavor that we align together and strive to get that reduction of 28%,” said Mayor Pro Tem Diane Dixon.

If the council gives the resolution final approval, customers would be able to water their lawns only twice a week from April through October and once a week from November through March.

Residential pools and spas could not be refilled more than 3 inches once per week. Residents would be barred from refilling ponds and fountains with drinkable water more than once every other week unless to sustain “aquatic life,” the resolution states.

The city could fine water wasters $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second within the same year and $500 for each subsequent violation in that year.

“If customers reduced their water usage to 75% of their base amount (three-year average), this would be a 25% reduction consistent with the city achieving the goal of 28%,” a city staff report states.

Customers who have already reduced their water use significantly could apply for a waiver allowing less than the required Level 3 reduction. Allowances made under the waiver would be determined case by case.

The city’s Level 4 plan — the most strict conservation measure — would ban all irrigation except for fire prevention, place a moratorium on developments that would require new drinking water service, except for homes that already have building permits, and limit customers to 60% of their average water use in the past three years.