New numbers from Waterworks District 29, the district that serves Malibu, Topanga and surrounding communities, show Malibu has regressed in water cutbacks, cutting only 21 percent in the month of August, behind a 36 percent goal and up six percent from July numbers.
These numbers also show Malibu lagging behind other beach cities in terms of water conservation for the month of July, according to David Rydman, water resource manager for District 29, who rattled off a list of other communities in Southern California that had successfully begun conserving up to state standards. Rydman spoke at the Wednesday, Sept. 16 Malibu City Council meeting.
“We have backtracked a little bit here in Malibu. We are now at 21 percent for the month of August … still considerable conservation, and I think that’s worth noting, but it’s not meeting the target the state set for the month,” Rydman told council. In July, Malibu customers cut back 27 percent, but regressed in the month of August.
Council member Joan House asked if any other communities shared Malibu’s inability to reduce water.
“I’m just wondering, is there anybody that had our record, that was close to us in not reducing like they should?” House asked Rydman.
“No, Malibu is unique in this area, in terms of the beach cities, unfortunately,” Rydman replied.
Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rosenthal asked Rydman hard-hitting questions about the breakdown of water use in the city in an attempt to root out possible culprits of the water waste.
“How many households have not cut back to their target number … for those with one-inch [water meters] and under?” Rosenthal asked.
The majority of residential water meters in Malibu are one-inch, designed for use in single-family homes. Rydman replied with July/August numbers.
“Sixty percent of the customers who have a one-inch meter or less are meeting their allocation. Forty percent are not, and are paying surcharges for that,” Rydman replied.
“I think most of us in Malibu have driven by properties that are very lush still and very green — you can see a number of them from PCH. So are they skewing these results?” Rosenthal asked.
“I’m looking at this stat: 50 percent of the water in Malibu is typically used by the top 10 percent of the customers,” Rydman responded.
Rosenthal then asked about possible consequences for those who will not respond to fines and surcharges. After three notices of violation, Rosenthal cited, customers may have flow restriction devices installed in their plumbing to cut down how much water flows to the residence, a policy approved by the County Board of Supervisors.
Rydman explained that only one billing cycle has been completed, so it will be months before enough data has been collected to begin looking into consequences, though the district is not rushing into the installation of flow restrictors.
“I want to be really clear,” Rydman said, “flow restrictors are put in place when there’s a violation of district rules and regulations, as a last resort, mainly because of the health and safety confinements.” He also said, “some people are not even aware” that they’re exceeding limits.
“It’s hard to believe that there is anyone that doesn’t know about the drought and about conservation efforts in the State of California,” Rosenthal replied.
In a later interview with The Malibu Times, Rosenthal admitted that some water users may not be aware of exactly how much they’re above targets, if they aren’t paying the bills themselves.
“I think that for a number of people that don’t even get their bills — you know, it goes to a business manager or something like that — they’re not aware of how much water they’re using. I think for other people, they’ve been trying and they haven’t been able to reach their particular target,” Rosenthal explained. However, there is a third, more troublesome demographic.
“Other people — the way there are in every community — think these issues don’t affect them and they’ll put it on everybody else. I think that’s a small percentage and, based on the people I’ve spoken to, it seems like it is,” Rosenthal said.
To those, City Council Member Skylar Peak urged greater mindfulness.
“With all due respect, the rest of the residents in Malibu, I hope you’re hearing me out there. We need to really do our part,” Peak said in response to the news at Wednesday’s meeting.
District 29 has gathered about $780,000 in water overuse surcharges since June, according to Rydman. Overall revenue in the district for the same period has been about $6 million, which, according to Rydman, is substantially less than what the district collected for the same period in 2014, due to overall cutbacks.
Council also discussed possible fire danger the fire department says could come from allowing landscaping to totally dry out.
“We don’t want trees to die and we don’t want foliage around our houses to become dry and brittle … because that becomes a fire hazard,” Rosenthal said. “If we were more efficient in how we water, we would be still be able to keep our plants.”
Suggestions include upgraded sprinklers and graywater systems.