Newport council to consider easing water restrictions
City leaders on Tuesday may loosen the spigot for Newport Beach water customers, but officials warn that the drought isn’t over and conservation is still necessary.
The City Council will consider moving the city to level two of its water conservation plan, which would restrict outdoor watering to before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. but allow ratepayers to irrigate their lawns three days per week from April through October. Outdoor watering from November through March would also be restricted to one day per week.
If the council approves the change, the city will assign residents specific watering days. Hoses still need to have nozzles and water leaks must be fixed within 48 hours, according to a city staff report.
For the last year the city has operated at level three of its water conservation plan, which restricted outdoor watering from April through October to two days per week. It also mandated households and businesses to fix water leaks within 25 hours and reduce their overall use by 25% based on the same billing period in 2013.
Newport’s proposal comes on the heels of the State Water Resources Control Board’s May vote that — assuming three more dry years occur — mandates urban water providers to have a three-year supply of water available. Agencies that would face a shortage under this scenario would be required to meet a conservation standard equal to the amount of the shortage.
Previously, in the wake of California’s persisting drought, the state had set conservation standards for local water agencies.
“Drought conditions are far from over, but have improved enough that we can step back from our unprecedented top-down target setting,” state water board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus said in a statement.
Newport Beach, like many other Orange County water providers, would have enough water under state standards to set its conservation level at zero, said the city’s municipal operations director, George Murdoch.
Because an emergency situation could deplete water reservoirs, the Municipal Water District of Orange County has asked all suppliers to set a minimum 10% conservation rate.
Murdoch is proposing that Newport conserves 15% of its water use compared with 2013.
“The right way to run a system is to leave some water in reserves,” he said. “The drought is still here. We think the prudent thing to do is to continue to conserve until there’s a change in the conditions.”
The city of Newport Beach, which serves 66,219 water customers, had struggled month after month to reduce its water use to meet its original 28% conservation target. However the state agreed to lower Newport’s mandate to 21% earlier this year.
The city’s overall water usage in May was 27.3% lower when compared to the same month in 2013, putting its cumulative reduction at 22%, data show.
If the council approves the change, the city is expected to cut back on citations for those who use more water than their allotted amount.
“We will be contacting people who are off the chart, but the majority of the community has done well,” Murdoch said. “There could still be citations, but it’s not as likely.”
The City Council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive.
