ITEM:            INFORMATION ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS

 

10.       WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM REPORT

 

Meeting Date:           October 20, 2003                                Budgeted: N/A

Program/Line Item No: N/A

Staff Contact: Shawn Novack                                   Cost Estimate: N/A

 

General Counsel Approval: N/A

Committee Recommendation: N/A

CEQA Compliance: N/A                                                       

 

The following water conservation activities took place during September 2003:                                                             

The District continued to carry out District Regulation XIV, which requires the retrofit of water fixtures to ultra-low flow (ULF) 1.6 gallons-per-flush toilets and 2.5 gallons-per-minute showerheads when properties transfer ownership.  Property owners are required to certify the property has the ULF fixtures by submitting a Water Conservation Certification form (WCC).

 

CERTIFICATION

The District received 111 Water Conservation Certification forms between September 1 and September 30, 2003.  Data on property ownership, transfer date and status of conservation requirements from those forms were entered into the conservation database.

 

VERIFICATION

In the month of September, 136 inspections were scheduled in response to requests from agents and property owners.  The District completed 96 inspections of properties changing ownership and 81 (84.4%) were in compliance.  None of the properties that passed inspection required more than one visit to verify compliance with all conservation requirements.  Detailed information on conservation inspections is provided in Exhibit 10-A.

 

DATA MANAGEMENT

Information is obtained weekly from the Abstract of Monterey County on properties transferring ownership within the District.  The information is entered into the database and compared against the properties that have submitted WCCs.  Properties not in compliance with District law are then identified.  Information on 183 property transfers that occurred between September 1 and September 30, 2003 was entered into the database.  

 

WATER SAVINGS ESTIMATE

Water savings from retrofits (triggered by changes in ownership) verified in September are estimated at 0.805 acre-feet.  Details on water savings from retrofits are presented in Exhibit 10-B.

 

 

PERMITS

District staff processed and issued 105 water permits in the month of September.  No allocations were debited in September. District Rule 23 requires a water permit application for all properties that propose to expand water demand on a site, including new construction and remodels.

 

Ordinance No. 98, adopted May 16, 2001, allows the addition of a second bathroom to an existing single family dwelling on a single-family residential site. Of the 105-water connection permits issued in the month of September, 12 were issued under Ordinance No.  98.

 

PERMIT COMPLIANCE

District staff completed 35 water permit final inspections in September. Ten of the final inspections failed for added fixtures or not having low-flow fixtures in place as stated in the permit.  Of the 25 properties that were in compliance, 14 passed on the first visit. In addition, four properties required Pre-Inspections in response to Water Permit Applications received by the District. Detailed information about permit inspections is provided in Exhibit 10-A.

 

DEED RESTRICTIONS

District staff prepares documents that are recorded on the property title to enforce District Rules and Regulations, enforce permit conditions and allow public access to water records.  On December 17, 2001, the District Board of Directors adopted a policy regarding the processing of these documents.  Specifically, an extensive quality control process was put into place and the District is now responsible for thoroughly reviewing and recording these documents.  In the month of September, the District prepared and recorded 49 documents on property titles.  Of the 105 permits that were issued in the month of September 31 (29.5%) required deed restrictions.

 

District staff provided notary services for 22 water permit applicants, although not all permits were issued during the month of September. 

                                                                                                                                   

The District continued to promote and administer the Toilet Replacement Refund Program.  Seventeen applications were received during September.  Both residential and non-residential water users may apply for a rebate of up to $100 per toilet.  The District checks applications for eligibility against District records of properties required to retrofit to ultra-low flow toilets.

 

The following chart shows the refund total from September 1 through September 30, 2003:      

TOILET REPLACEMENT REFUND - September 2003
	September 2003	Last Year	Total for 2003	Total-to-Date
Applications Received	17	20	146	3880
Pre-Approved  (# of Toilets)	0	0	0	128
Applications Approved	16	15	108	3204
A:    Single Family               (# of Toilets)	12 (13)	7 (9)	79 (101)	3818 (4200)
B:   Multi-Family               (# of Toilets)	3 (4)	8 (12)	21 (35)	309 (1716)
C:      Hotels               (# of Toilets)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	38 (592)
D:      Commercial               (# of Toilets)	1 (1)	0 (0)	2 (2)	33  (92)
Denied	1	5	38	548
Total $ Issued  (# of Toilets)	$1,800.00 (18)	$2,034.31.00 (21)	$13,670.99 (138)	$636,762.07 (6600)
Estimated Water Savings  (in AFY*)	0.414	0.483	3.174	151.800`

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