By Neil Farrell
The Los Osos Community Services District Board will consider increasing restrictions on water use at its next meeting, set for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5 at the South Bay Community Center.
The staff report calls for the district to declare a Stage III emergency, under its “Water Shortage Contingency Plan,” adopted in 2014. It had been in Stage II of a possible five, each with more and more restrictive policies.
The Stage III “Water Shortage Warning,” aims to reduce water usage by 15% “from baseline historical norms,” reads the staff report. Under the contingency plan, the CSD would go to Stage III “if rainfall totals are less than or equal to 48 inches over three years.”
In a chart of rainfall totals, as recorded by the County, from April 2012-March 2013, Los Osos got 9.88 inches of rain. From April 2013-March 2014 it got 6.57 inches and from April 2014-March 2015 the total is 6.81 inches. That’s a grand total of 23.26 inches over three years, just about half of the 48-inch trigger.
Among the new prohibitions: is a ban on all outdoor water use, specifically private irrigation with potable water. Irrigation with rainwater or non-potable water may continue; reduce residential water allocations from 174 gallons per household per day to 150 gallons per household per day; and, instilling penalties for exceeding water use allocations, according to the report.
The contingency plan also allows the board to hike rates too but the staff isn’t recommending that be done until the effectiveness of the reduced allocations and other measures can be determined. The staff is recommending holding off on rate hikes for four months or two billing cycles.
If the board decides to declare a Stage III emergency, it would have to come back for a second reading in April.
