Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/352307
ByMattHamilton TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES When Gov. Jerry Brown called on ev- eryone from residents to businesses in California to curb water usage by 20 per- cent, he told state govern- ment to lead by example. Six months after his emergency declaration, many agencies and depart- ments can't say whether their efforts to conserve water are sufficient because few have been comparing how much water they are using this year to last. Here are five things to know about how state agen- cies are faring as they try to use less water: Cutsnotmandatory, but happening Brown's emergency dec- laration in January didn't make conservation manda- tory and there's no penalty if state agencies fail to com- ply. Still, it's clear that agen- cies are trying. One easy way to conserve is to limit — or eliminate — landscape irrigation. Agen- cies with large campuses, such as the Department of State Hospitals, said such cuts were an important source of savings. Another obvious source of waste is leaky pipes and faucets. The Califor- nia State Prison in Sacra- mento, which loses about 50,000 gallons of water per day due to leaks, is replac- ing underground pipes. Sev- eral other prisons are doing the same. Data dilemma Tracking water usage across dozens of agencies anddepartmentsinaCalifor- nia government that is larger than that of many countries can be a complex task. Each agency has dozens, hundreds oreventhousandsofseparate accounts for the utilities that serve their buildings. Some are billed monthly, some ev- ery two months, some every quarter. Further complicat- ing comparisons, water is measured in various units: gallons, cubic feet and acre feet. Scant accounting Of the 11 high-use agen- cies that The Associated Press requested water data from, only four were able to provide gallons used for the first half of 2013 and the first half of 2014 for all the facilities they manage. Agencies are not required to track this year's usage until early 2015, so it falls on each agency's own initia- tive to gauge their conser- vation efforts in real time. Answer impossible? Exactly how much wa- ter state agencies are us- ing may never be known for sure. That's because the state gets meter readings for buildings it owns — not always for leased or rented sites. Fewer easy cuts Even before the current drought, state government had instituted water con- servation measures. Be- cause some waste already had been eliminated, find- ing more savings may be tougher. 5 THINGS TO KNOW State trying to cut water, but is it working? By Justin Pritchard The Associated Press LOS ANGELES The sprin- klers outside the Califor- nia's state Capitol are off and the lawn is withering, the lemon- and cucumber- infused "water stations" at the state pension build- ing are gone, and prison inmates are taking shorter showers while campers at some popular parks can't take them at all. In ways big and small, the state government is con- serving water to try to meet Gov. Jerry Brown's request that everyone — from resi- dents to businesses to state agencies — reduce their use by 20 percent. Still, six months after Brown declared a water emergency, few state agen- cies know whether their conservation efforts are meeting the mark. They are not required to com- pare water consumption this year to last, and few have, The Associated Press found. The AP asked the 11 agen- cies or departments that use the most water how their consumption over the first half of this year com- pared to the same period in 2013. Only four could provide comprehensive data for water use in buildings they manage, in some cases tak- ing several weeks to pro- duce the information. Oth- ers pulled a smattering of utility bills from a few sites only after being contacted — data they acknowledged was not sufficient to gauge the effectiveness of conser- vation efforts. One of the largest wa- ter users, the California Department of Transpor- tation, provided 2014 data for water accounts in four cities and one county, and couldn't provide any 2013 numbers. The agency has more than 7,500 accounts. "Obviously, we have quite a bit more data to review," spokesman Mark Dinger emailed. The agency believes it will meet or exceed the gov- ernor's target, Dinger said. The lack of accounting by Caltrans and other agen- cies is another example of how the state is struggling to keep track of water use. A recent AP story detailed how state regulators do not know how many trillions of gallons have been diverted by corporations, agricul- tural concerns and oth- ers that have "senior wa- ter rights" entitling them to free water. With California in the grip of its worst drought in a generation, Brown de- clared an emergency on Jan. 17 and asked residents and agencies to trim usage. There is no penalty for fail- ure to comply. Meanwhile, residents can face fines from local author- ities for wasting water. TheStateWaterResources Control Board, frustrated that consumption statewide increased 1 percent in May from a year ago, voted this month to impose fines up to $500 a day for wasteful out- door water use such as exces- sive lawn watering and side- walk washing. Tracking water usage across the state's sprawl- ing government is not like checking a residential util- ity bill, state officials said. With thousands of ac- counts billed at various times and utilities measur- ing consumption in vari- ous ways, the task of com- piling data has proven com- plex, said Brian Ferguson, spokesman for the Depart- ment of General Services, which is helping coordi- nate the state's drought re- sponse. "There's not just an iPad app we can turn on to do this," Ferguson said. Under a 2012 executive order, by March 1, state agencies were supposed to have cataloged site-by-site water use from 2013 in a central database. That data entry fell behind schedule, but is nearly complete, Fer- guson said. Neither that executive or- der nor Brown's emergency declaration required agen- cies to track 2014 usage in real time, he said. The 2014 analysis doesn't need to happen until early 2015. "That's a lame excuse," said state Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber. He agreed that calculating usage across larger state agencies is a chore, but said it should be done in real time and the fact that it hasn't is "an- other example of a broken government." Other than saying in a written statement that "more aggressive action will be needed" to save wa- ter, Brown's office referred questions to the Depart- ment of General Services — which said the available data suggest state agencies are working hard to meet Brown's goal. Four of the 11 agencies were able to provide water usage totals for all major fa- cilities they own during the first half of both years. Ac- cording to AP's analysis of those data: • The Department of State Hospitals, with five campuses that provide mental health care to about 5,600 patients at any given time, trimmed water use by 18 percent, to 139 million gallons in 2014. The con- servation rate increased as the year went on. • Water use dropped by 21 percent, to 99 million gallons, at the four Depart- ment of Developmental Ser- vices' facilities where 1,200 people with developmental disabilities live. • The Department of Vet- erans Affairs cut use 11 per- cent, to 82 million gallons at eight veterans' residences plus headquarters and a cemetery. • The Employment Devel- opment Department, which provides unemployment in- surance and collects payroll taxes, used more than 4.5 million gallons in 2014, a 32 percent drop. The agency said it could provide data for 26 facilities, not includ- ing 158 sites it leases or oc- cupies in buildings run by another state agency. In addition, two provided data for all facilities but a limited timeframe. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sent 2014 usage data for all 34 state prisons, but only for one month in 2013. Data from Cal Expo, the fair and event space in Sacramento, did not cover the first two- plus months of each year. The remaining agencies provided just a snapshot of use from a small fraction of their sites. They were: Cal- trans; the California High- way Patrol; and the depart- ments of General Services, Water Resources and Parks and Recreation. Several agencies said conservation would have been greater but for one- time construction projects. Some pointed out that new cuts can be a challenge be- cause prior efforts already eliminated some water waste. WATER Ca li fo rn ia c an 't s ay i f it 's m ee ti ng d ro ug ht g oa l DAMIANDOVARGANES—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A lawn sprinkler is seen at the Whitney's home lawn, as television crews report on California's drought in Glendora on July 17. The Associated Press SACRAMENTO A slim ma- jority of likely California voters support an $11.1 billion water bond slated for the November ballot, but public support would grow if the bond comes with a smaller price- tag, according to sur- vey results released late Wednesday. The Public Policy In- stitute of California poll comes as lawmakers are ne- gotiating changes to a fund- ing package for water proj- ects that legislative leaders see as too large and full of pork-barrel spending to win voter approval. The survey found 51 per- cent of likely voters back the existing measure and 26 percent are opposed. Support grows to 59 per- cent for a smaller bond, but questioners did not ask what price tag respondents would accept. 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