Ian James

TDS

Tiered rates that would reward customers who conserve and penalize those who overuse water note discussed.

The water agency last month released a new app for customers to report incidents of waste.

Mayor Steve Pougnet has set a goal of cutting the city’s water use 50 percent by 2020.

PALM SPRINGS – Three months after Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency, the Desert Water Agency is urging its customers to voluntarily cut their water use by 20 percent and is pledging “long-term sustainability” in managing the area’s groundwater.

The DWA board set those goals in a resolution on Tuesday, asking all customers to consider ways of cutting water use such as inspecting irrigation systems, replacing grass with desert landscaping or installing more efficient appliances.

“The DWA is committing to sustainable groundwater management, and one of the ways to get there is additional reductions, and the 20 percent call is for that,” said Craig Ewing, president of the agency’s board.

The board did not discuss other potential measures, such as tiered rates that would reward customers who conserve and penalize those who overuse water. Ewing has said he supports moving toward such a rate system in the next two years.

Water rates in the California desert remain relatively low, and residential water use in the Coachella Valley stands out as being among the highest in the state.

The Desert Water Agency, the second largest of five public water districts in the Coachella Valley, supplies water to customers in Palm Springs and parts of Cathedral City. Between 2007 and 2013, total water consumption among DWA customers declined more than 17 percent.

Heavy pumping of groundwater has for decades led to declining water levels in much of the aquifer beneath the Coachella Valley. The Desert Water Agency and the Coachella Valley Water District have long been importing water to replenish the aquifer, and the inflows of water have helped push up water levels in areas near groundwater recharge ponds.

At Tuesday’s meeting, DWA General Manager David Luker presented charts showing higher water levels over the years in some wells as a result of inflows of imported water to areas near the Whitewater River and Mission Creek.

“We’ve seen some real benefits,” Luker said. “It proves this thing works. The only thing you need is the water.”

The water that DWA relies on to recharge the aquifer comes from the Colorado River, through an exchange for the agency’s right to water from the State Water Project. But in response to the drought, the state has told water agencies to expect “zero” deliveries of water this year through the State Water Project.

The Coachella Valley Water District, the area’s largest water supplier, also passed a resolution in February backing the governor’s calls for customers to conserve water in response to the drought.

Given the severity of the drought, it’s important for DWA to take serious action against customers who waste water, said Peter Van Houten, a part-time Palm Springs resident who addressed the board at the meeting.

“Please play hardball on water usage and waste before it is too late,” Van Houten said. “Other parts of the state are really, really hurting, and it just kills me when I see all this water running off lawns and gutters.”

The Desert Water Agency last month released a new app for customers to report incidents of waste, such as water shooting from broken sprinkler heads, using a smartphone or tablet.

In response to the drought, the city of Palm Springs has announced plans to dramatically cut back its water use on parks and medians.

Mayor Steve Pougnet has set a goal of cutting the city’s water use 50 percent by 2020. He also says he hopes to boost the city’s water-saving incentives to reduce residential water use by 30 percent.

Ian James can be reached by email at ian.james@desertsun.com and on Twitter at @TDSIanJames.