ITEM: INFORMATION ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS

29. WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM REPORT

Meeting Date: June 21, 2004 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

I. MANDATORY WATER CONSERVATION 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).

A. Certification

The District received 137 WCC forms between May 1 and May 31, 2004. Data on property ownership, transfer date and status of conservation requirements from those forms were entered into the conservation database.

B. Verification

In the month of May, 143 inspections were scheduled in response to requests from agents and property owners. The District completed 82 inspections of properties changing ownership and 65 (79.2%) were in compliance. Two of the properties that passed inspection required more than one visit to verify compliance with all conservation requirements. The District also verified the replacement of 10 toilets resulting from water permit conditions of approval.

C. Changes of Ownership

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 214 property transfers that occurred between May 1 and May 31, 2004 was entered into the database.

D. Savings Estimate

Water savings from retrofits (triggered by changes in ownership) verified in May are estimated at 0.506 acre-feet. This number represents verification of approximately 119% of the properties transferring ownership in the District during May (e.g. 22 toilets were replaced).

E. Water Waste Response

Staff responded to eight water waste complaints reported by the public and made several verbal warnings while in the field on observed water waste activities. Letters were written to the water waste perpetrators who were in violation of Ordinance 92, Section 6,”Water Waste” Paragraph 4.

II. WATER DEMAND MANAGEMENT

A. Permit Processing

District staff processed and issued 106 water permits in the month of May. Of the permits issued, two involved Paralta & Pre-Paralta allocation deductions totaling 0.162 acre-feet. Permits resulting in deductions to other entitlements (Macomber, Pebble Beach Company, Griffin Estates, Quail Meadows, etc) were issued to two projects resulting in new use of 0.124 acre-feet. The remainder of the permits issued did not involve a debit to a jurisdiction’s allocation or were debited from a public water

allocation. 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 106 water permits issued in May 2004, 10 were issued under the provisions of Ordinance No. 98.

B. Permit Compliance

District staff completed 45 water permit final inspections in May. Ten of the final inspections failed due to unpermitted fixtures or for not having low-flow fixtures in place as required by the permit. Of the 35 properties that were in compliance, 32 passed on the first visit. In addition, 16 properties required pre-inspections in response to Water Permit Applications received by the District.

C. 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. In January 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. In the month of May, the District prepared and recorded 37 documents. Of the 106 permits that were issued in the month of May 2004, 28 (26.4%) required deed restrictions. District staff provided deed restriction Notary services for 36 water permit applicants.

III. REBATE PROGRAM

In January 1997, the District enacted a program that offered refunds of up to $100 for every older residential toilet replaced with an ultra-low flow model. The program was expanded in 1998 to provide rebates for voluntary non-residential toilet retrofits. It was expanded again in 2003 to provide rebates for ultra-low consumption appliances and cisterns. Water saved through this program is set aside to reduce community water use.

Participation in the rebate program is detailed in the following chart:

		REBATE PROGRAM SUMMARY	May-2004	2004 YTD Total	Total-to-Date (January 1997 - Present)
I	Application Summary
	A.	Applications Received	17	98	4034
	B.	Applications Approved	15	76	3315
	C.	Single Family Applications	14	54	3894
	E.	Multi-Family Applications	2	14	330
	G.	Commercial Applications	1	1	111
II	Types of Fixtures Rebated
	A.	Single Family Toilet	13	48	4275
	B.	Multi-Family Toilet	2	17	1740
	C.	Commercial Toilet	1	1	686
	D.	ULF Dishwasher	2	12	14
	E	ULF Washing Machine	2	12	13
	F.	Hot Water Demand Pumping Systems	0	0	0
	G.	Cisterns	0	0	0
III	Total Dollars Rebated		$2,100.00	$9,078.63	$649,825.20
IV	Estimated Water Savings in Acre-Feet Annually*		0.40	1.74	154.360
		* Retrofit savings are estimated at 0.023 AF/toilet, 0.003 AF/dishwasher, 0.015 AF washer

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