City Council this week directed staff to create an urgency ordinance to help make residents cut back on Malibu’s excessive water use, as well as an evaluation of water practices at parks and other ways City buildings can increase water efficiency.
The motion passed on a 3-1 vote with Councilmember Lou La Monte the sole dissent and Councilmember Joan House a reluctant last-minute swing in favor. Mayor John Sibert did not attend Monday’s meeting.
The ordinance was proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rosenthal, who stressed throughout discussion of the item that she feels the time to act to conserve water is now.
“While I appreciate what Water District 29 was doing, I didn’t have a lot of confidence that they were acting quickly enough or helping residents conserve enough,” Rosenthal said.
Instead, Rosenthal suggested that the City of Malibu follow in the footsteps of cities like Beverly Hills and Montecito and draft its own water use restrictions, as well as invest in outreach.
“Regulations will only be successful if we can get the information out for people to know what to do and how to do it,” Rosenthal said.
The proposed restrictions, which Council will vote on in May, include a mandatory limit of outdoor watering to twice weekly, a prohibition of car washing except on landscaped areas (meaning no washing cars on paved driveways) and a condition that all mobile car washes operating within City limits must use recycled water.
Water District 29, of which Malibu is a customer, is charged with cutting residential water use in the district by 36%. In the past year, Malibu has only cut water use by an estimated 1%.
The motion, which will have staff drafting the new ordinance in time for the May 26 Council meeting, is a delayed and, in some ways, weaker directive than the one proposed by Rosenthal, the outline for which originally appeared in an April 14 staff report.
That motion would have included a prohibition on new pool construction, an idea that Rosenthal abandoned before the meeting began, stating that she understands pools serve uses, including for fire protection.
The abandonment of the prohibition on new pool construction was lauded by the vast majority of the seven public speakers who came to address the item on Monday, many of whom came prepared to defend swimming pools.
“I want to make sure that that idea gets quashed,” said Malibu resident Brian Merrick. “I don’t want to see that be a situation where you’re stuck with the City taking some sort of right away from you.”
Rosenthal and Councilmember Skylar Peak spoke in strong support of an emergency ordinance, originally suggesting that staff present the text in time for the May 11 Council meeting, a timeline that made La Monte balk.
“I don’t think it needs to be an emergency in the next two weeks,” La Monte said. “It’ll probably be an emergency in the next six weeks, and we’ll actually have the time to do it right.”
“The bottom line here is there’s a drought and we need to save water, and we, as a City, in relation to the other cities mentioned here, are not doing enough,” Peak told a skeptical La Monte.
Councilmember Joan House expressed concern that Rosenthal and Peak were moving too quickly and requested more time to gather info from residents and experts.
“I usually check with people, I let them know. This information wasn’t out there,” House said. “I think your ideas are good, but I think we need a little more time than two weeks. I’m looking for more information, but I don’t have it.”
Rosenthal reluctantly compromised. “I will accept this amendment, but I do have to say that I’m disappointed … I understand wanting to be thorough, but I think we have been dallying long enough and I don’t think we have been leaders,” Rosenthal said.
In addition to preparing the urgency ordinance, staff was directed to begin a zone text amendment that will go to the Planning Commission, requiring drip irrigation and/or micro spray construction in new residential development or remodels.
Staff will also look into funding a retrofitting of city hall fixtures to be more water efficient and ways to cut back on watering in Malibu parks.