WATER DEMAND COMMITTEE MEETING
ACTION ITEM
1.	PROVIDE DIRECTION ON WATER PERMIT PROCESS FOR ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES
Meeting Date:		August 13, 2013	Budgeted:	N/A
From:		David J. Stoldt	Program/		N/A
		General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:		Stephanie Pintar	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Review: N/A
Committee Recommendation:
CEQA Compliance: N/A

SUMMARY: Staff recently reviewed an application for an Assisted Living project that includes dwelling units equipped with kitchenettes and personal laundry facilities. Staff would like to propose that the water demand capacity of units that include both a laundry and kitchn be based on fixture units, and eliminate the factor for Assisted Living in this case. The factor for Assisted Living is 0.085 AF/bed, which roughly equates to a one-bathroom single family dwelling unit.

Assisted Living water use is presently calculated using a “per bed” factor from Group III of District Rule 24, Table 2, Non-Residential Water Use Factors. Given that independent living units are residential in nature and that additional uses such as cafeterias, salons, pools and other uses are permitted with additional water demand, the use of residential fixtures is appropriate.

DISCUSSION: Assisted Living water use is calculated using a Non-Residential Water Use Factor under Rule 24 of the District’s Rules & Regulations. Presently the water consumption factor for Assisted Living water use is set forth in Table 2 of Rule 24, which is labeled “Non-Residential Water Use Factors.” The nature of water consumption for Assisted Living, however, closely resembles Residential water use. The District assigns a fixture unit value to water fixtures used in Residential uses and equates each “fixture unit” to 0.01 acre-feet of water. The District uses water factors based on regional averages for Non-Residential uses to predict water use capacity. Assisted Living water use has been assigned a Table II use factor, as Assisted Living facilities typically share multiple water fixtures that are located in common bathrooms and laundry areas.

In the past, there have been a number of reasonable arguments as to why Assisted Living dwelling units should be considered “Residential.” There appears to be a reasonable association between the definition of “Residential” as shown in Rule 11, and the Residential purpose of the dwelling units that will be equipped with kitchenettes and personal laundry facilities. Rule 11 provides the following definition for “Residential”: “Residential shall mean water used for household purposes, including water used on the premises for irrigating lawns, gardens and shrubbery, washing vehicles, and other similar and customary purposes pertaining to Single and Multi-Family Dwellings.” According to the applicant, “the dwelling units are where residents live, and (the units) are used for their “household” purposes. They include all the incidents of a “household” use (sleeping rooms, bathrooms, living rooms, etc.).”

Water use in an Assisted Living dwelling unit equipped with kitchenettes and personal laundry facilities appears to meet the definition of “Residential” water use and may be more appropriately characterized as Residential use. However, staff does not support changing to the fixture unit methodology to calculate water demand for Assisted Living units that share bathrooms, laundry, and kitchen facilities. This type of use should still be characterized as “Non-Residential.”

RECOMMENDATION: The Water Demand Committee should direct staff to add a footnote to Rule 24, Table 2, indicating that water use in independent living units equipped with kitchenettes and personal laundry facilities are Residential.

IMPACT ON STAFF/RESOURCES: N/A

EXHIBIT

None

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