Pleasanton supermarket a water hog — nearly 1,000 gallons an hour

The 99 Ranch Market in Pleasanton, Calif. on Wed. November 4, 2015. The market tops a list of those who have violated the city's excessive water use policy. The 99 Ranch Market in Pleasanton, Calif. on Wed. November 4, 2015. The market tops a list of those who have violated the city's excessive water use policy. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Pleasanton supermarket a water hog — nearly 1,000 gallons an hour 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

The California-based grocery 99 Ranch Market gets as close to the food stalls of Beijing or Taipei as you can get without crossing an ocean — the fresh bowls of hot noodle soup, the 50-pound sacks of rice and the tanks of live clams, cod and catfish awaiting the dinner table.

But at the chain’s Pleasanton store, these specialty foods come at a cost.

The grocery used nearly 1,000 gallons of water an hour — more than some big hotels and four times as much as a nearby Safeway — during its most recent two-month billing period and ranks as the city’s biggest violator of drought-driven water restrictions, earning a fine of $7,676, according to public records.

Representatives of the company, which calls itself the nation’s biggest Asian grocery chain and operates 31 of its 38 stores in bone-dry California, did not return calls seeking comment.

City officials, meanwhile, said they had reached out to 99 Ranch to ask it to cut back, but they did not know exactly why the purveyor of everything from 99-cent fried cookies to a $250 bottle of Yao Ming Cabernet Sauvignon was so heavy on the pipes.

Water use by private businesses and citizens is typically a private matter under California law. But in recent days, The Chronicle has obtained records from several Bay Area water suppliers showing which customers earned fines for failing to conserve.

The documents offer a window into the use, and overuse, of an increasingly precious resource.

Oakland A’s executive vice president Billy Beane and former Safeway CEO Steven Burd were among those near the top of the list of water hogs in the East Bay, while the Menlo Country Club near Woodside was exposed for its astonishing appetite — more than 2 million gallons a week.

In Pleasanton, 99 Ranch joined corporate campuses such as that of tech giant Oracle, hotels, a post office and hundreds of households — including a councilwoman’s — in exceeding water limits in a community of 78,000.

Pleasanton has seen its water supplies dwindle more than most and is requiring homes and businesses to use 25 percent less water than they did two years ago. With some of the most stringent water rules in California, the city has levied about $500,000 in penalties this year.

In the neighboring Dublin San Ramon Services District, 27 homes and businesses have been fined from $250 to $1,750 for using too much water since June. Those racking up multiple penalties include Quarry Lane, a private school, and the family of former 49ers wide receiver J.J. Stokes, records show.

But no one came close to the water use of 99 Ranch.

“It’s everybody’s responsibility to save now,” said Pleasanton resident Michaella Hwang, 43, who was shopping this week at 99 Ranch for fruit jellies for her two girls and was shocked to learn about the store’s water use. “If I knew what items were using more water, I wouldn’t buy them.”

The market, which sits in a strip mall off Interstate 580, used an average of 23,378 gallons of water daily between Aug. 10 and Oct. 12, according to city records. How much the store exceeded its water allowance was not disclosed.

But the market’s use clearly surpassed an industry benchmark — the 9,760 gallons a day that the average grocery store used prior to the drought, according to a report by the California Department of Water Resources.

Experts and shoppers speculated that the massive intake could be tied to the fish tanks.

“I don’t see any violation on the face of things,” said regular Ariel Colcol, 47. “They probably use more water. A regular store doesn’t have a seafood department like theirs. You can get your fish cleaned, you can get them fried. You can’t get that elsewhere.”

Among others slapped with overuse fines was Pleasanton Councilwoman Karla Brown, who voted in support of the city’s water regulations.

Her large home on the southern side of town shows indications that she’s tried to cut back — her lawn has begun to yellow and a sign proclaims, “Severe Drought: We conserve 25 percent.” But city records show Brown’s household used an average of 944 gallons of water a day during a recent billing period, more than three times what a typical family uses. The account was fined $358.

In an e-mail to The Chronicle, Brown said her high use was due to a leaky pipe.

“We had a water leak in the irrigation system and we fixed it as soon as we learned about it,” she wrote. “Over the past two years my husband and I have always saved more than the required 25 percent reduction on average.”

Many of the residential fines in Pleasanton went to those in the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, such as the gated Ruby Hill. Real estate executive Costa Karkalemis and businessman Manuel Gomez were hit with the city’s largest penalties for consuming more than 5,000 gallons of water daily in recent billing periods. Neither could be reached for comment.

The commercial users hit with the biggest fines, after 99 Ranch, were the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, a nondescript office complex on Chabot Drive and the Eden Villa assisted-living facility.

Kevin Goebel, general manager of the DoubleTree, said the hotel had made efforts to conserve, like using drip irrigation and encouraging guests to save water by posting drought notices in rooms. However, with a recent spike in business, cutting back from 2013 levels is difficult, he said.

“How do you mandate someone who’s staying with you to take a shorter shower?” Goebel asked.

The hotel was fined $5,114 for going over its quota.

Pleasanton’s utility superintendent, Dan Martin, said the city’s goal is not to make money off big water users but to ensure a sufficient supply for all residents. Nearly 80 percent of the community’s water comes from the state water project, which has significantly cut deliveries to customers during the drought.

The city has cut its water use more than 35 percent since the restrictions took hold and ranks as one of the region’s top water savers. Only 3 percent of customers have failed to hit the 25 percent target, according to officials. Consequently, supplies have kept up with demand.

“We took a lot of heat for coming out of the gate hard,” Martin said, “but we knew it would pay dividends.”

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander

Pleasanton’s biggest water over-users

Public records released to The Chronicle show which Pleasanton water customers did not meet mandated cuts of 25 percent in recent two-month billing periods when compared to their water use in 2013. The following are the 10 violators who used the most water.