Four water suppliers in California, including the city of Beverly Hills, have failed to chip in to statewide water conservation efforts and have been fined as a result.
Statewide, California cut water use by 26.1 percent in September, the fourth consecutive month that the state has exceeded Gov. Jerry Brown’s mandatory water cutback target.
However, the cities of Beverly Hills, Indio, Redlands, and the Coachella Valley Water District all failed to reach their respective water conservation targets in September, according to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). Each of the suppliers was fined $61,000.
“Up and down the state, residents and water suppliers are making the necessary sacrifices needed to help California meet its conservation goals. However, some urban water suppliers simply have not met the requirements laid before them,” SWRCB Office of Enforcement director Chris Carrigan said in a statement. “For these four suppliers, it’s been too little too late to achieve their conservation standard.”
Across the state, water suppliers reported 77,763 compliance and enforcement actions issued, a drastic drop from the 92,868 enforcement actions issued in August.
In the four months since the Board began tracking conservation, the state has cut back a cumulative total of 28.1 percent on its water use, or 65 percent of the total conservation target required to be completed by February.
Meanwhile, California is nervously anticipating the coming El Niño, which will bring plenty of rain to the parched state but will also likely bring mudslides, flash flooding and dangers to unsheltered homeless. Experts have warned that even a strong El Niño will not be enough to outright end California’s drought, but most residents don’t seem to be worried – in fact, some are even dressing as El Niño for Halloween.
Photo by Alan Light