HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-06-25 - AGENDA REPORTS - DROUGHT CMTE RPT (2)AGENDA REPORT
City Manager
Item to be presented
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
DATE: June 25, 1991
SUBJECT: DROUGHT COMMITTEE REPORT
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
BACKGROUND
The City Council had directed the Drought Committee to submit its first report
at this Council meeting. The attached report summarizes the Committee's
assessment of the drought situation, the level of compliance with the provisions
of the Ordinance and its goal of 25% overall reduction in water consumption.
The report also presents suggestions for modifications to the Drought Ordinance
to improve its effectiveness.
It is recommended that the City Council receive and discuss the first report of
the Drought Committee.
ATTACHMENTS
First report of the Drought Committee.
APPROYED
hds:475
Agenda Item:
FIRST REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM THE SANTA CLARITA DROUGHT COMMITTEE
JUNE 25, 1991
BACKGROUND
Ordinance 91-16, known as the Drought Ordinance, was adopted by the
City Council on March 13, 1991. The ordinance placed restrictions
on the use of water in Santa Clarita and created a Drought
Committee to oversee the conditions of the drought and the level of
achievement of the goal of the ordinance, namely to reduce the
overall water consumption in the city by 25%.
The Drought Committee consists of 11 members, including 5 citizen
members, 5 members from the Upper Santa, Clara Water Committees
member agencies, and 1 City member, who also acts as Chairperson
for the Committee. The members of the committee are as follows:
City Member:
Lynn Harris, Chairperson
Citizen Members:
Valerie Rohrer
Holly A. King
Richard Green
Donald Froelich
Edward Redd
Water Agency Members:
Robert Sagehorn, Castaic Lake Water Agency
Bill Manetta, Santa Clarita Water Company
Dan Masnada, Valencia Water Company
Jim Jenks, Newhall County Water District
Gary Hartley,.Los Angeles County Water District 1 36
The term of membership on the Drought Committee is for 12 months
unless a member is reappointed by the City Council, or until
Ordinance 91-16 terminates, whichever comes first.
The City staff provides support for the committee, by gathering
information from the water agencies and preparing summary reports
for presentation to the committee. The staff also provides the
clerical functions required by the committee, including the
preparation of minutes of the meetings.
SCOPE OF WORK
The scope of work of the Drought Committee has been defined in
Ordinance 91-16 and includes the following tasks:
1. to review all available data on water consumption, water
supply and ground water conditions;
2. to evaluate the level of compliance with the terms of
Ordinance 91-16;
3. to evaluate the level of achievement of the goal of reducing
overall water consumption by 25%;
4. to: make recommendations to the City Council concerning the
timing of and need for implementation of future additional
water restrictions as may be developed; and
5. to make recommendations to the water purveyors in the City of
Santa Clarita concerning additional measures to encourage
water conservation, including but not limited to: conservation
goals for individual water accounts, surcharges for excessive
water use and the installation of flow restriction devices in
water services.
MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE
The Drought Committee has held three meetings since its formation.
The first meeting included the administration of the oath of
office, a presentation on the requirements of the Brown Act and the
Conflict of Interest laws, and a presentation on the history of the
City's Drought Ordinance. The committee also discussed methods of
increasing public awareness of the ordinance.
The first water consumption figures were presented at the second
meeting, along with a discussion of the sources of water for each
of the purveyors. The subject of the need for variances was also
discussed, but no specific action was taken to initiate the
establishment of such a process.
The third meeting included an analysis of.the effect of growth on
the achieved conservation rate, a presentation by the Parks and
Recreation Department on watering practices at City Parks, and a
discussion of possible modifications to the Drought Ordinance.
The remainder of this report reflects the committee's work to date
in reviewing the available data, and presents the conclusions and
recommendations that the committee has developed.
WATER SOURCES
Figure 1 shows the water.service areas of the four water agencies
operating in the Santa Clarita Valley. The relative size of each
agency and its 1990 water consumption levels are as follows:
AGENCY METERED CONSUMPTION
CONNECTIONS Ac.Ft. haat
Santa Clarita Water Company
18,233
18,504
42.5$
Valencia Water Company
13,522
17,113
39.3%
Newhall County Water District
5,934
7,426
17.0%
LA County Water Works District 36
623
514
1.2%
TOTAL 38,312 43,557 100.0%
Water for the Santa Clarita Valley comes from three sources: the
alluvial aquifer, the Saugus aquifer and from Northern California
through purchases from the Castaic Lake Water Agency. The
following data shows the percentage of water taken from each water
source for 1990 and 1991 and illustrates the shift from imported
water to local ground water as a result of the cut backs in
imported water:
SOURCE 1990 1991
Imported Water 49.6% 29.3%
Alluvium Aquifer 30.0% 31.7%
Saugus Aquifer 20.4% 39.0%
This is further seen in the area graph, Figure 2, which shows the
continuous monthly water demand on these sources from January 1990
through May 1991. This chart also illustrates the variation in
monthly water demand by water agency.
GROWTH EFFECTS
The local water purveyors have supplied the Drought Committee with
information concerning number of metered connections to their water
systems for each year since 1987. This information has been
studied to determine the impact of development and growth on water
consumption levels.
All of the four water purveyors have experienced a dramatic
decrease in growth during the last year, largely attributable to
the slow down in the economy. The rate of growth in number of
metered connections for all water purveyors was found to be:
FY YEAR
GROWTH RATE
1987-88
8.36%
1988-89
11.50%
1989-90
7.36%
1990-91
2.95%
The growth rate for 1990-91 is projected based on an extrapolation
of the number of metered connections in service during the.first 10
months of the fiscal year.
These figures imply that the observed water conservation levels
should be adjusted up by 3% to account for the effects of growth.
Projections of water conservation levels in this report are
presented both as adjusted and non -adjusted for growth impacts.
WEATHER EFFECTS
The analysis of water conservation levels should also include
weather effects. While there is not sufficient data to derive a
mathematical relationship between weather characteristics and water
consumption, it. is still important to subjectively evaluate the
effects of average temperature and monthly rainfall.
Figure 3 compares the total water consumption for the entire Santa
Clarita Valley for 1990 and 1991 on a month by month basis. The
effect of the rains is readily evident in the March consumption
level which was down 48% (not adjusted for growth). While this
high level of reduction contributed greatly to the. water
conservation effort, it should be pointed out that .it will not be
representative of the months to follow. Likewise, the unadjusted
conservation level in May was only 3.8%, however May of 1990 was a
very wet month.
WATER CONSERVATION LEVELS
The water conservation figures for the first three months of the
Drought Ordinance are as follows:
Month
Total
Growth Adjusted
March
48.1%
51.1%
April
17.1%
20.1%
May
3.8%
6.8%
Greater reduction efforts are clearly need if water consumption is
to be cut by 25%. This might be achieved through additional
publicity for the Drought Ordinance and through stronger
enforcement. It is still too early to draw any firm conclusions
about the compliance level because only one month's worth of data
with consistent weather conditions can be safely relied on at this
time.
WATER CONSERVATION LEVE
The water production data for 1991 shows a dramatic 50% reduction
during the rainy month of March, but only a 17% reduction in April.
It is the committee's opinion that the March figures should be
ignored, and that an accurate estimate of the achieved water
conservation level will not be obtainable until additional months
of water consumption data are available.
The committee was concerned about the effect of growth on the
conservation level. The water agencies provided information on the
number of metered connections in each agency for analysis by the
City staff. This analysis showed that the growth rate from April,
1990 to April, 1991 was about 3%, and that the water conservation
level was actually 20% in April when adjusted for growth impacts.
Greater reduction efforts are clearly need if water consumption is
to be cut by 25%. This might be achieved through additional
publicity for the Drought Ordinance and through stronger
enforcement. The committee has concluded that it is still too
early to draw any firm conclusions about the compliance level
because only one month's worth of data can be safely relied on at
this time.
RECOMMENDED MODIFICATIONS
The committee regularly discusses problems that have been
encountered with the. implementation of the water conservation
program to determine if any modifications should be made in the
Drought Ordinance. The committee has identified the -following for
consideration by the City Council:
1. The ordinance restrict watering times to 6:00 pm to 8:00 am,
and only on every other day. This results in over -watering
and excessive runoff. Watering every other day will be too
stressful for landscaping in Santa Clarita's hot summer sun.
RECOMMENDATION: Modify the Drought ordinance to allow watering
each day, for' no more than 10 minutes per
watering station or cycle.
2. Commercial gardeners are only restricted from watering lawns
between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., even if the property under
their care is residential. This causes some confusion in the
enforcement and creates the impression that some residents are
not being subject to the ordinance.
Prohibit the watering of all residential lawns
between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
3. The recycling regulations require that glass bottles be washed
out prior to placing them in the green barrels. This seems to
be a waste of water. The Public Works Department has
indicated that it is not necessary to thoroughly clean all
bottles, only to remove the heavier deposits.
RECOMMENDATION: Reduce the requirement that bottles be washed
prior to placement in the city's recycling
containers.
4. The committee feels that it is inappropriate to install new
sod or seeded lawns from June through September, which are the
hottest months of the year.
RECOMMENDATION: Prohibit the placement of new sod or seeded
lawns during the months of June through
September.
ATTACHMENTS: Figure 1, Water Service Areas
Figure 2, Water Consumption by Source
Figure 3, Water Consumption in 1990 & 1991
1990 Water Consumption Data
1991 Water Consumption Data
Drought Committee Minutes of May 16, 1991
Drought Committee Minutes of May -23, 1991
Drought Committee Minutes of June 23, 1991
,77
WATER SERVICE AGENCIES
1.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY NEWHALL COUNTY WATER DISTRICT
///
ISTRICT///9
VALENCIA WATER COMPANY SANTA CLARITA WATER COMPANY
V//ZZ LL�j
� CASTAIC LAKE WATER AGENCY BOUNDARY
...........
......... ......
1 0 1 2 3
SCALE IN MILES
Santa Clarita Valley Water Production
by Source of Water
a
C
O
t
U
7
O
CL
N
0
MONTH (1990-1991)
FIGURE 2
U-
Q
E
a)
0
M
Santa Clarita Valley Water Demand
Total From All Sources
Jan Feb Mar Apr MayJun Jul AugSep Oct NovDec
FIGURE 3
Purveyor Source
LACoWWD # 36 Alluvium
Saugus
CLWA
NCWD
Alluvium
Mar
Saugus
May
CLWA
SCWC
Alluvium
Sep
Saugus
Nov
CLWA
vWC
Alluvium
0
Saugus
0
CLWA
TOTALS
Alluvium
0
Saugus
0
CLWA
LACoW WD # 36
NCWD
SCWC
VWC
TOTALS
1990 Santa Clarita Valley Purveyor Demand
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dee
TOTAL
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
29
23
31
34
43
55
63
63
54
49
37
33
514
121
104
194
162
199
193
180
157
144
125
134
153
1,866
318
281
288
335
414
465
546
489
491
441
371
323
4,762
2
38
22
37
55
116
156
122
101
81
39
29
798
237
297
258
372
476
882
884
665
628
368
560
356
5,983
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
40
40
779
559
957
933
1,080
1,189
1,184
1,369
1,292
1,361
888
890
12,481
210
211
293
337
532
460 -
651
675
529
482
565
287
.5,232
99
89
190
273
369
429
576
528
454
316
436
298
4,057
529
413
629
582
729
875
875
892
820
812
222
446
7,824
568
612
745
871
1,207
1,535
1,715
1,497
1,301
975
1,259
796
13,081
417
370
477
608
783
894
1,121
1,016
945
757
807
662
8,857
1,339
1,032
1,639
1,586
1,907
2,235
2,278
2,447
2,267
2,301
1,186
1,397
21,614
29
23
31
34
43
55
63
63
54
49
37
33
514
441
423
504
534
668
774
882
768
736
647
544
505
7,426
1,016
856
1,215
1,305
1,556
2,071
2,068
2034
1,920
1,729
1,448
1,286
18,504
838
713
1,112
1,192
1,630
1,764
2,102
2,095
1,803
1,610
1,223
1,031
17,113
2,324
2,015
2,862
3,065
3,897
4,664
5,115
4,960
4,513
4,035
3,252
2,855
43,557
1991 Santa Clarita Valley Purveyor Demand
Purveyor
Source
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
LACoWWD # 36
Alluvium
0
0
0
0
0
Saugus
0
0
0
0
0
CLWA
25
26
18
30
35
NCWD
Alluvium
147
97
100
151
198
Saugus
310
286
188
248
381
CLWA
14
31
22
7
11
SCWC
Alluvium
75
212
276
414
787
Saugus
190
303
103
293
390
CLWA
760
486
258
335
321
VWC
Alluvium
174
377
257
479
1,046
Saugus
201
450
259
557
562
CLWA
410
89
4
5
19
TOTALS
Alluvium
396
686
633
1,044
2,031
Saugus
701
1,039
550
1,098
1,333
CLWA
1,209
632
302
377
.386
LACoW WD # 36
25
26
18
30
35
NCWD
471
414
310
406
590
SCWC
1,025
1,001
637
1,042
1,498
VWC
785
916
520
1,041
1,627
TOTALS
2,306
2,357
1,485
2,519
3,750
Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec TOTAL
0
0
134
693
1,413
85
1,764
1,279
2,160
2,333
2,029
527
4,790
4,721
2,906
134
2,191
5,203
4,889
12,417
i
CALL TO ORDER
FLAG SALUTE
ROLL CALL
ADMINISTRATION OF
OATH OF OFFICE
DROUGHT COMMITTEEMEETINGMINUTES
MAY 16, 1991
4:30 p.m.
The first meeting of the Drought Committee of the City of Santa
Clarita was called to order by Chairman Harris at 4:33 p.m, in the
City Council Chambers, 23920 Valencia Blvd., Santa Clarita, Ca.
Committee member Jinks led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
All Committee members were present with the exception of Committee
members Hartley, and Sagehorn who were absent. Also present were
Assistant City Attorney Tim McOsker and City Clerk Donna Grindey.
City Clerk Donna Grindey administered the Oath of Office to the
Committee members.
ITEM 1
BROWN ACT & CONFLICT Assistant City Attorney Tim McOsker presented the terms of the
OF INTEREST Brown Act and the Conflict of Interest laws which involves both the
REGULATIONS Political Reform act and Section 1090 of the Government Code as
they apply to the Drought Committee.
ITEM 2
REVIEW OF DROUGHT City Engineer Jim Van Winkle reported on the history, intent and
ORDINANCE rationale behind the development of .Ordinance 91-16. Details of
the specific terms of the ordinance and some of the problems that
have been encountered in its administration were also explained.
The Committee discussed whether the County had a similar ordinance
in effect, the termination date of the drought ordinance,
enforcement, measures, how the ordinance affects gardeners, water
waste and water loss. '
ENTER ROOM Committee member Hartley arrived at 4:55 p.m.
ITEM 3
REVIEW OF SCOPE OF City Engineer Jim Van Winkle reported on thescope.of work as
WORK defined in Ordinance 91-16, the City Council's. direction to the
Committee and the Committee's reporting responsibility to the
council will be reviewed. The Committee members introduced
themselves.
The Committee members discussed the review of all available data
and levels of compliance.
PUBLIC AWARENESS OF -City Engineer Jim Van Winkle reported that many citizens have
DROUGHT ORDINANCE expressed concern that the public is not aware of the Drought
Ordinance, despite the public notices, newspaper articles and
information provided by the. water agencies. Various methods of
providing public awareness were discussed.
Drought Committee Minutes
May 16, 1991
PUBLIC Frank Steiner, Conservation Coordinator for the local water
PARTICIPATION purveyors, 23780 Pine _Street, Newhall, 91321, discussed his efforts
in bringing public awareness to the water conservation issue.
COMMITTEE Committee members discussed the increase in water usage during the
COMMENTS summer months, and suggested various ideas on publicizing methods
of water conservation. These suggestions included inserting
notices with water bills, newspaper notices, radio spots, and
utilizing Spanish advertisement to reach the Spanish speaking
population.
ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Jinks and seconded by Masnada to adjourn the
meeting to May 23, 1991, 4:30 p.m.
Hearing no objections, it was so ordered.
i
Chairma ,
DROUGHT COMMITTEE MEETING.MINUTES
May, 23, 1991
4:30 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Drought Committee of the City of Santa Clarita
was called to order by Chairman Harris at 4:32 p.m. in the Main
Conference. Room, 23920 Valencia Blvd., Santa Clarita, Ca.
ROLL CALL All Committee members were present with the exception of Committee
member Richard Green who was absent. Also present were City
Engineer Jim Van Winkle and Secretary, Robyn Dowd.
Committee member Richard Green arrived at 4:35 p.m.
ITEM 1 The Committee discussed who provides the water to our community and
WATER CONSUMPTION how to obtain a more accurate determination of usage. The members
REPORT requested that information be brought to the next meeting to assess
the impact of population growth on the overall level of water
conservation. The water purveyors agreed to bring this information
to the June 13, 1991, meeting.
ITEM 2 Variance procedures were discussed with situations that could be
VARIANCE considered. The Committee recommended no variances be implemented
PROCEDURES in the Drought Ordinance and that public should be referred to
their water supplier for alternatives to using excessive water.
ITEM 3 It was reported that the first Water Conservation Fair held on May
WATER CONSERVATION 18, 1991 at Master's College was a success. There were
FAIR REPORT approximately 350 attendees who chose from a selection of classes
on water conservation.
COMMITTEE The Committee requested that a City Parks employee be at the next
COMMENTS meeting, June 13, .1991. It was also requested that a report on
area demands vs. area supply be presented.
ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Masnada and seconded by Redd to adjourn the meeting
to June 13, 1991, 4:30 p.m.
Hearing no objections,
ATTEST:
ity Clerk
it was so ordered.
LZ
Chairman
DROUGHT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
June 13, 1991
4:30 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Drought Committee of the City of Santa Clarita
was called to order by Chairman Harris at 4:34 p.m. in the Council
Chambers, 23920 Valencia Blvd., Santa Clarita, Ca.
FLAG SALUTE Tom Sorensen, Parks Superintendent, led the flag salute.
ROLL CALL All Committee members were present with the exception of Committee
member Froelich, Hartley, Jinks and Sagehorn who were absent. Also
present were City Engineer Jim Van Winkle, Tom Sorensen, Parks
Supervisor and Secretary, Robyn Dowd. Chairwoman Harris advised
the Committee that Sagehorn had notified her. that he would not be
attending the meeting and asked for an excused absence. Masnada
advised that Jinks had been ill that day. The Committee members
excused those members.
APPROVAL OF Approval of the May 16, 1991 minutes with correction in Tim
MINUTES McOsker's title was motioned by Masnada and seconded by Redd.
Approval of the May 23, 1991 minutes with the correction to Item 1
as follows per Committee member Masnada: The Committee discussed
who provides the water to our community and how to obtain a -more
accurate determination of usage. The members requested that
information be brought to the next meeting to assess the impact of
population growth on the overall level of water conservation. The
purveyors agreed to submit annual connection count information
covering from 1987 on, prior to the June 13, 1991 meeting.
ITEM 1 Chairwoman Harris introduced Tom Sorensen, Superintendent of Parks,
WATERING PRACTICES for information on this item. Mr. Sorensen advised that the Parks
AT CITY PARKS Division will be using the weather station information from the
Bakersfield office to set their irrigation controllers. At this
time the grass at the parks receive approximately 1/2" of water per
week which is only 1/2 thewater that is recommended by the weather
station. The trees that are planted are all drought resistant
trees for the Santa Clarita Valley. Mulches, drip systems and
underground bubblers are used for watering the street trees. The
Parks and Recreation Department is 3-4 weeks away from an agreement
with the Sanitation Department to use reclaimed water for the
street trees.
Santa Clarita Park has the City's first backwash reclaimation
system for the pool water. This filters 4000 gallons of pool water
which would otherwise be flushed to waste.
Water conservation methods being used at the parks are: pool decks
are not being washed down; pools will not be drained this winter;
low water use shower heads and faucets are installed and the
drinking fountains are checked for leaks.
Landscape plans are recommended to- the citizens using drought
tolerant plants, irrigation systems and mulches. These plans
include functional turf instead of decorative. Parks has authority
on landscape plans for commercial development.
June 13, 1991
Page 2
Median runoff is the County jurisdiction except in two areas of the
City. The County is -now coming to the City with their median plans
which are now convex instead of concave and have drains in the
middle.
Mr. Sorensen has a meeting with the landscape districts on
June 26th. Chairman Harris requested that he inform the districts
of our ordinance with the appropriate watering times along with our
concerns with the median runoff.
Masnada advised that Castaic Water Agency is looking into companies
that could be users of reclaimed water. The main issue is the
expense of the piping which needs to be segregated. The Sanitation
District is talking with Newhall Land and Farm about using part of
the high school site for a reclaimed water system.. Manetta,is
opposedtoreclaimed water in the east end.
Manetta requested. that the City plant trees after the summer season
since this would use less water to establish the trees. Green
advises that this would work.
Masnada advised Mr. Sorensen that the Rio Vista Cimis Station is
being considered and may be more accurate for our weather
predictions for water conservation.
ITEM 2 City Engineer Jim Van Winkle received the number of metered
METERED connections from the purveyors. His prorated data shows a 3%
CONNECTIONS increase this year in growth. It was agreed upon to compare growth
to water consumption to obtain a fair analysis of use.
Chairwoman Harris requested that the purveyors provide the
Committee with a service area map. It was agreed upon to provide
this at the June 27, 1991 meeting. '
Committee member Rohrer left the meeting at 5:30 p.m.
ITEM 3 Chairwoman Harris requested that a service area map of the
REPORT TO 'CITY purveyors be presented to the Council at a June meeting.
COUNCIL King would like the format of the report to the Council to read
what actions the Committee has taken instead of what was
discussed. It was agreed upon by the Committee that the suggested
format be adopted.
ITEM 4 The following recommendations to the Council on modifications to
MODIFICATIONS TO the Drought Ordinance were discussed: 1) No new sodding or seeding
THE DROUGHT of yards during the months of June, July, August, September; 2) No
ORDINANCE washing out of recyclable items; 3) Watering hours -by commercial
companies should be restricted to the times for residential;
Suggestion on changes to restrictions on watering times to be more
beneficial both to grass/plants and water conservation; and 4) to
take into consideration the population growth when looking at our
water conservation level.
June 13, 1991
Page 3
COMMITTEE The Committee requested that Gail Foy, Public Information Officer
COMMENTS for the City, be at the June 27, 1991 meeting. Ideas on how to
notify the public on the ordinance are needed.
Redd requested that there be a report on water quality comparing
pre/post drought conditions.
Chairwoman Harris made a comment that the City of Los Angeles had
reduced their water consumption by 30% but were now increasing the
costs for usage. The purveyors stated that there would be no
increase this year in the costs.
ADJOURNMENT At 6:20 p.m., it was moved by Green and seconded by Masnadaa-to
adjourn the meeting to June 27, 1991, 4:30 p.m.
Hearing no objections, it was so ordered.
ATTEST:
City Clerk
Chairman