ITEM: IX INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS

H. WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM REPORT

Meeting Date: January 31, 2002 Budgeted: N/A

Program/Line Item No: N/A

Staff Contact: Emily Whitfield Cost Estimate: N/A

General Counsel Approval: N/A

Committee Recommendation: N/A

CEQA Compliance: N/A

The following water conservation activities took place during December 2001:

MANDATORY RETROFIT PROGRAM

The District continued to carry out District Regulation XIV which requires the retrofit of water fixtures to ultra-low flow (ULF) 1.6 gallons-per-flush toilets and 2.5 gallons-per-minute showerheads when properties transfer ownership. Property owners are required to certify the property has the ULF fixtures by submitting a Water Conservation Certification form (WCC).

CERTIFICATION

The District received 53 WCC forms between December 1 and December 31, 2001. Data on property ownership, transfer date and status of conservation requirements from those forms were entered into the conservation database.

VERIFICATION

In the month of December, 113 inspections were scheduled in response to requests from agents and property owners. The District completed 60 inspections of properties changing ownership and 48 (80%) were in compliance. Four of the properties that passed inspection required more than one visit to verify compliance with all conservation requirements. Detailed information on conservation inspections is provided in Exhibit H‑1.

DATA MANAGEMENT

Information is obtained weekly from the Abstract of Monterey County on properties transferring ownership within the District. The information is entered into the database and compared against the properties that have submitted WCCs. Properties not in compliance with District law are then identified. Information on 58 property transfers that occurred between December 1 and December 31, 2001 was entered into the database.

WATER SAVINGS ESTIMATE

Water savings from retrofits (triggered by changes in ownership) verified in December is estimated at 2.829 acre-feet. Details on water savings from retrofits are presented in Exhibit H-2.

WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT

PERMITS

District staff processed and issued 62 water connection permits in the month of December. Paralta & Pre-Paralta allocation deductions totaled 0.329 AF for the Cal-Am system in December. District Rule 23 requires a water permit application for all properties that propose to expand water demand on a site, including new construction and remodels.

Ordinance No. 98, adopted April 16, 2001, allows the addition of a second bathroom to an existing single family dwelling on a single family residential site or an existing single family dwelling with less than two bathrooms to add the lacking fixture. Of the 62 water connection permits issued in the month of December, five were issued under Ordinance No. 98.

PERMIT COMPLIANCE

District staff completed 27 water permit final inspections in December. Of the properties that were in compliance, 20 (74%) passed on the first visit. Detailed information about permit inspections is provided in Exhibit H-1.

TOILET REPLACEMENT REFUND PROGRAM

The District continued to promote and administer the Toilet Replacement Refund Program. Approximately 14 calls were received during December. Both residential and non-residential water users may apply for a rebate of up to $100 per toilet. The District checks applications for eligibility against District records of properties required to retrofit to ultra-low flow toilets.

The following chart shows the refund total from December 1 through December 31, 2001:

TOILET REPLACEMENT REFUND - DECEMBER 2001
	December	Last Year	Year-to-Date	Total-to-Date
Applications Received	18	26	327	3,479
Pre-Approved (# of Toilets)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	128 (1,022)
Applications Approved	15	16	254	2907
A: Single Family (# of Toilets)	11 (14)	9 (13)	176 (228)	2588 (3908)
B: Multi-Family (# of Toilets)	4 (7)	5 (14)	69 (260)	250 (1621)
C: Hotels (# of Toilets)	0 (0)	1 (20)	3 (48)	38 (592)
D: Other (# of Toilets)	0 (0)	1 (1)	6 (8)	31 (90)
Denied	3	10	73	444
Total $ Issued (# of Toilets)	$2,073.00 (21)	$4,800.00 (48)	$54,221.01 (544)	$598,829.81 (6,211)
Estimated Water Savings (in AFY*)	0.483	1.104	12.512	142.853

* @ 0.023/toilet

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