The rate increase has prompted quite a bit of research, online and otherwise by many of us. The links on the left side of the page represent just some of the many resources overflowing the web. Included here are a number of sites authored by people or organizations either “in the same boat” we Cambrians find ourselves in or people or organizations who have HELPED communities and citizens who’ve sailed before us.
The first resource is one that may be able to really help us out: the Pacific Institute.
The Pacific Institute is an independent, nonpartisan think-tank studying issues at the intersection of development, environment, and security. The Institute posits several well-stated points in a report on Potential of Urban Water Conservation.
” Controversies rage over allocation of water among users, the need to reduce the state’s use of Colorado River water, overpumping of groundwater, and ecological damages caused by human withdrawals of water. All these factors, combined with concern over growing populations and the threat of climate change, make it essential that the deadlock over California water policy be broken. The best way to do this is through reducing waste in the system, using proper pricing and economics, educating the public, and improving water efficiency and conservation efforts.
We do not argue that the savings potential we identify will all be captured. Capturing wasted water will require better use of available technology, expanding existing conservation programs, developing new approaches and policies, and educating consumers and policymakers. Further technological advances will also help. Some of the needed improvements will be easy; some will be difficult. But there is no doubt that the path to a sustainable water future lies not with more “hard” infrastructure of dams and pipelines but with the soft infrastructure of responsible local water management, smart application of existing technology, active stakeholder participation in decision-making, and the efforts of innovative communities and businesses. We hope that this report is the beginning, not the end, of a real debate over water conservation in California.”
One recent project was a Review of the SFPUC’s Retail and Wholesale Customer Water Demand Projections. Their evaluation of projections brings up an interesting point that I’ve been wondering about:
How did the Board arrive at the basic assumption about water consumption that each residential customer would require 18 units each 2 month period? When figuring projected needs, using a number this high inflates the need exponentially. Do they have a vision of Cambria canals? Tropical rainforest taking over the pines? My current personal water use is between 6 and 9 units per billing cycle. I do conserve, but I can’t imagine using twice as much. Families may have higher usage, but an average need over double what I have used over the last 6 years seems a bit extreme.
Perhaps the Pacific Institute could evaluate the CCSD 20 year water master plan and/or the rates increase rationale like it evaluated the SFPUC’s plan.
Another report on the Pacific Institute’s site that you may find interesting and informative is their report Desalination, With a Grain of Salt – A California Perspective. In this report the Pacific Institute provides a comprehensive overview of the history, benefits, and risks of ocean desalination, and the barriers that hinder more widespread use of this technology, especially in the context of recent proposals for a massive increase in desalination development in California.
More handy resources to come.
Please post or comment and share the sources you have found useful.
Last 5 posts by Amanda Rice
- Gail Robinette Chosen to Complete DeMicco's Term as CCSD Director on Unanimous Vote
- California Coastal Commission Unanimously Denied Army Corps Desal Tests
- Cambria CSD Agenda for November 27, 2011 Meeting Includes Water Conservation & New Tank Project
- Sunken Oil Tanker Off Cambria's Coastline Will Be Checked Again Soon
Please leave comments or add details about this post.
On the CCSD website go to “Publications” and the Fall 2003 newsletter Linked here . The report on the meeting of July 24, 2003, tells that the Board moved to “select desalination as the alternative water source for Cambria and to limit plant capacity to 4,650 total resdential hookup plus increment of additional water for existing residents to increase maximum goal of average residential water use from 12 to 18 units.”
I attended that meeting. Greg Sanders made the motion to raise the “maximum goal” to 18 units. This increase was not part of the agenda item, and he made the motion after public comment on the item had been closed. Since then “quality of life” has been used by CCSD board and staff as a reason for the increase.
Here in Cambria 2/3 of the water meter holders use 1/3 of the water (12 EDU bi-monthly or less). In my home three adults use 4-5 units bi-monthly and water the garden with recycled water. It’s conservation, but, as I told the CCSD Board at their August 2003 meeting, hardly sacrificial.
The Pacific Institute is an excellent organization for public policy analysis of water issues. May we consider conservation here in Cambria with equal objectivity and respect for the future.
Mickie,
On what grounds are you accusing the vote taken on desalination as being illegal?
On what grounds are you suggesting that there is no legal obligation to provide water to empty lots?
You would be correct in stating that there is no requirement that it be desalinated water. The source is not the issue. Do you believe that the CCSD is not obligated to service all property in their district boundries?
Do you think it is fair that I cannot get enough water on my lot to build even a modest home while 50-70% of Cambria’s water is being used for irrigation? Let’s admit it, that irrigation is generally to cultivate non-native plantings and lawns which often proliferate and crowd out native plants. If Cambria outlawed irrigation of lawns there would be enough water to lift the moratorium and stop rationing and severe rate surcharges.
I think Cambria would be well served if they provided a “Watering Index” service like they provide in Santa Barbara, San Diego and other southern California communities. For an FAQ about what a watering index is and how it can help water use issues, visit http://www.sbwater.org/WateringIndex.htm#whatis