California drought: $500-a-day fines for California water hogs?

Worker Kristi Kolodzie helps Terry Chi at the water site. Worker Kristi Kolodzie helps Terry Chi at the water site. Photo: Brant Ward, San Francisco Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Brant Ward, San Francisco Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close California drought: $500-a-day fines for California water hogs? 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Overwatering your lawn? Get out your checkbook.

For the first time since the drought of the 1970s, state officials are looking to drive water conservation through mandatory restrictions - with fines of up to $500 for violators.

A proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board, to be considered Tuesday in Sacramento, would bar residents from spraying down sidewalks, driveways and patios, watering lawns or gardens to the point of causing runoff, washing cars without a shut-off nozzle, and using potable water in fountains.

Local police, among others, would be given the authority to impose penalties.

"We're not trying to spank people. We're trying to ring a bell and get people's attention," said board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus, who unveiled the state plan on Wednesday. "We are in one of the worst statewide droughts in modern times."

The proposed tightening comes as Californians have been slow to respond to three years of below-average rainfall.

Voluntary limits not enough

While some communities have gotten serious about the dry spell by ordering caps on consumption and limiting outdoor watering, most have merely asked residents to voluntarily conserve - a strategy that has largely kept lawns green and showers long.

The state proposal aims to provide a minimum mandate beneath this patchwork of local laws. Violations could be enforced by any law enforcement official or water agency. The new rules would likely begin in August.

Gov. Jerry Brown empowered the board to regulate water use in January as part of a drought emergency declaration that asked Californians to voluntarily conserve by 20 percent.

But a recent survey by the board found that residents weren't living up to that call, cutting back water use 5 percent this year when compared with the same period in the previous three years. The Bay Area was even worse, at just 2 percent savings.

San Mateo resident Jennifer Strauss noted that her friends and family have long made efforts to conserve water, meaning further reductions are tougher to come by.

For her, the state's proposed rules wouldn't be an inconvenience.

"If we're in the middle of a drought, you don't need to make sure there are no leaves on your sidewalk," said Strauss, 35, who doesn't do much watering outside and gets her car washed at a place that uses recycled water.

She suspects, though, that the $500 fine might deter some of the water wasters she's seen in the neighborhood.

The proposed regulations target outdoor water use in cities and towns because savings can be both easy and significant, according to state officials.

"It's kind of the low-hanging fruit," Marcus said, noting that between 30 and 80 percent of household water use happens outside.

Marcus said the state proposal doesn't apply to farmers, who use the bulk of California's water, because they're already taking hits in the form of limited water deliveries from the Sierra.

Water agencies included

In addition to focusing on households, the proposal seeks to put pressure on the thousands of local agencies that manage the state's various water supplies.

The agencies would be required to enact water-shortage plans, if they have not already done so, and put limits on outdoor use, such as restricting which days of the week watering can occur. Agencies that don't comply would be subject to fines of as much as $10,000 a day.

If the regulations are approved, Marcus said, the board will monitor how well they work and make a decision in the fall whether to enact more stringent rules.

"Is this enough? No. This is enough for a start," she said. "I think it's prudent to take the long view and assume it's not going to rain next year, or the year after that."

Forcing water agencies to boost rates and imposing penalties for leaky pipes are possible follow-up measures, Marcus said.

Some progress locally

Some communities have already hardened their push for conservation. In Santa Cruz, most households are limited to 249 gallons of water a day, while Pleasanton homes and businesses were ordered last month to cut water use 25 percent over last year - or pay heavy fees.

There's early evidence that such tactics work, including a sea of browning lawns around Pleasanton.

Daniel Smith, that city's director of operation services, said water use dropped 34 percent in June, compared with the same period last year. So far, July consumption is down 37 percent.

"It didn't happen by accident," Smith said. "We have put our full effort into this thing. We've done nothing but drought over the past three months, and it's paying off for us."

The Bay Area's biggest water agencies, serving San Francisco, San Jose and most of the East Bay, have put only voluntary conservation measures in place.