WestchesterParents

Just as I suspected… City council voted to ratchet up the Emergency Water Conservation Phase level from Phase I to Phase III.

A few weeks ago I met with Rosendahl and told him that they (LADWP) would skip Phase II entirely and go on to Phase III or Phase IV.  This was something I predicted here last Fall though I didn’t think they would do it until June or July. The City Council approved of the stricter ordinance today.

In case people are wondering… here is how the various phases defined in Ordinance 180148 affect watering your landscape.

PHASE I
Limited hours for watering landscape.
No moratorium on new developments.

PHASE II
Watering landscape on Monday, Thursday and Saturday only.
Still no moratorium on new developments

PHASE III
Watering landscape on Monday and Thursday only.
STILL no moratorium on new developments

PHASE IV
Watering landscape on Monday only.
STILL NO moratorium on new developments

PHASE V
No watering landscape allowed
STILL NO MORATORIUM on new developments

PHASE VI
To be determined. (They’ll think of something else to make L.A.’s residents miserable. Perhaps shower free weekends.)
STILL NO MORATORIUM ON NEW DEVELOPMENTS

How out of skew can our housing policies be to the regions realities?!

Last week the City Council decided that residences with 4 or more household members that live on average size lots and fail to stay under the Tier 1 allocation are themselves ‘water hogs’ so they will punish them with nearly doubled water rates. However, if you live on a large and very large lot they will continue to grant you larger allocations of water.

These council people weren’t elected for their skills in details or mathematics or they would have realized that 5 people living under the Tier I cap are far more frugal water users than just two people in a similar sized residence.

So John Doe living on a 15,000 square ft lot gets his 48 HFC and only has to cut back on his marigolds while my family has to stop washing our clothes four nights a week and take 3 minute showers?  

They could have easily authorized the LADWP to reduce the water allocation to the four largest lot sizes where clearly the additional allocation has everything to do with water for landscaping. 

At L.A. City Hall, housing production trumps quality of life. At least the little guys quality of life.

Tags: OUR ENVIRONMENT, QUALITY OF LIFE, WATER // Add Comment »