ITEM:            INFORMATION ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS

 

19.       WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM REPORT

 

Meeting Date:           September 15, 2003                           Budgeted: N/A

Program/Line Item No: N/A

Staff Contact: Shawn Novack                                   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 August 2003:                                                                   

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 106 Water Conservation Certification forms between August 1 and August 31, 2003.  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 August, 99 inspections were scheduled in response to requests from agents and property owners.  The District completed 61 inspections of properties changing ownership and 44 (72.1%) were in compliance.  None 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 19-A.

 

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 126 property transfers that occurred between August 1 and August 31, 2003 was entered into the database.  

 

WATER SAVINGS ESTIMATE

Water savings from retrofits (triggered by changes in ownership) verified in August are estimated at 0.874 acre-feet.  Details on water savings from retrofits are presented in Exhibit 19-B.

 

 

PERMITS

District staff processed and issued 91 water permits in the month of August.  No allocations were debited in August. 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 May 16, 2001, allows the addition of a second bathroom to an existing single family dwelling on a single-family residential site. Of the 91-water connection permits issued in the month of August, 19 were issued under Ordinance No.  98.

 

PERMIT COMPLIANCE

District staff completed 23 water permit final inspections in August. Half of the final inspections failed for added fixtures or not having low-flow fixtures in place as stated in the permit.  Of the 12 properties that were in compliance, all passed on the first visit.  Detailed information about permit inspections is provided in Exhibit 19-A.

 

DEED RESTRICTIONS

District staff prepares documents that are recorded on the property title to enforce District Rules and Regulations, enforce permit conditions and allow public access to water records.  On December 17, 2001, the District Board of Directors adopted a policy regarding the processing of these documents.  Specifically, an extensive quality control process was put into place and the District is now responsible for thoroughly reviewing and recording these documents.  Permit processing times have increased from 2-3 weeks to 4-6 weeks when a deed restriction is required. In the month of August, the District prepared and recorded 51 documents on property titles.  Of the 91 permits that were issued in the month of August 31 (34.1%) required deed restrictions.

District staff provided notary services for 35 water permit applicants, although not all permits were issued during the month of August.       

                                                                                                                                   

The District continued to promote and administer the Toilet Replacement Refund Program.  Approximately twelve applications were received during August.  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 August 1 through August 31, 2003:      

TOILET REPLACEMENT REFUND - August 2003
	August 2003	Last Year	Total for 2003	Total-to-Date
Applications Received	16	20	129	3863
Pre-Approved  (# of Toilets)	0	0	0	128
Applications Approved	12	14	92	3188
A:    Single Family               (# of Toilets)	8 (14)	13 (16)	67 (88)	3806 (4187)
B:   Multi-Family               (# of Toilets)	4 (7)	1 (1)	18 (31)	306 (1712)
C:      Hotels               (# of Toilets)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	38 (592)
D:      Commercial               (# of Toilets)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (1)	32 (91)
Denied	4	6	37	547
Total $ Issued  (# of Toilets)	$2,100.00 (21)	$1,700.00 (17)	$11,870.99 (120)	$634,962.07 (6582)
Estimated Water Savings  (in AFY*)	0.483	0.391	2.760	151.386

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