ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITESM/STAFF REPORTS
21.	WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM REPORT
Meeting Date:			January 26, 2006	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David A. Berger,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Robert Cline	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 126 WCC forms between December 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005. 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 December, 85 inspections were performed in response to requests from agents and property owners. The District completed 42 inspections of properties changing ownership and 36 (86%) were in compliance. Five 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 six 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 125 property transfers that occurred in the month of December was entered into the database.

D. Savings Estimate

Water savings from retrofits (triggered by changes in ownership) verified in December are estimated at 1.104 acre-feet. This number represents verification of approximately 34% of the properties transferring ownership in the District during December (e.g. 48 toilets were replaced). Year-to-date total estimated savings is 29.210 acre-feet.

E. Water Waste Response

There were no water waste complaints reported by the public, but staff 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 79 water permits in the month of December. Of the permits issued, none involved a debit to Paralta & Pre-Paralta allocations. One permit was issued to other entitlements (Macomber, Pebble Beach Company, Griffin Estates, Quail Meadows, etc). 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.

District Rule 24-C (1) (C), allows the addition of a second bathroom to an existing single family dwelling on a single-family residential site. Of the 79 water permits issued in December 2005, 12 were issued under this provision.

B. Permit Compliance

District staff completed 34 water permit final inspections in December. Seven 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 27 properties that were in compliance, 18 passed on the first visit. In addition, 9 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 March 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 December the District prepared 39 documents. Of the 79 permits that were issued in the month of December 2005, 31 (39%) required deed restrictions. District staff provided deed restriction Notary services for 27 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	December - 2005	2005 YTD Total	Total-to-Date (January 1997 - Present)
Application Summary
A.	Applications Received	21	433	4636
B.	Applications Approved	13	322	3767
C.	Single Family Applications	13	286	4274
D.	Multi-Family Applications	0	22	378
E.	Commercial Applications	0	2	113
Types of Fixtures Rebated
A.	Single Family Toilet	2	103	4471
B.	SFD - Dual Flush	0	23	23
C.	Multi-Family Toilet	0	41	1817
D.	Commercial Toilet	0	3	689
E.	ULF Dishwasher	4	106	131
F.	ULF Washing Machine	7	165	208
G.	Hot Water Demand Pumping Systems	0	0	0
H.	Cisterns	0	0	1
Total Dollars Rebated		$1,300.00	$41,606.78	$708,338.36
Estimated Water Savings in Acre-Feet Annually*		0.163	6.862	164.672
· Retrofit savings are estimated at 0.023 AF/toilet, .0299 AF/dual flush toilet, 0.003 AF/dishwasher, 0.015 AF washer · Documentation for retrofit savings on Dishwashers and Washing Machines began 12/2003

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