CVWD to appeal $61K fine from State Water Board
The Coachella Valley Water District is going to appeal the $61,000 fine from the California State Water Board. Officials said the 36 percent reduction is unreasonable.
The state implemented the fine after users in the district did not reduce water use by a mandated 36 percent, though they exceeded the state’s 25 percent.
The water district held a meeting Tuesday morning to discuss its future plan for water conservation. The Board of Directors is questioning why the Coachella Valley has one of the harshest conservation mandates in the state.
KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 were at the meeting.
President of CVWD John Powell said, “The Coachella Valley Water District has saved more water than nearly every other district in the state. In fact, we’re ranked number seven over more than 400 agencies. We’re in the top two percent of performers in water savings.”
As Powell said, CVWD ranks seventh in California for water conservation to date with 76% of users meeting the mandated 36% cutback. And to increase conservation efforts, the district will be restricting outdoor irrigation on Mondays and Thursdays between December 1 – March 31 for all 108,000 CVWD customers.
Officials also said they’re going to increase penalties for tiers 3, 4 and 5, the highest water users.
Water use in Tier 1 No penalty Water use in Tier 2, up to 64% No penalty Water use in Tier 2, above 64% Regular rate + $2.51/unit Water use in Tier 3 Regular rate + $5/unit Water use in Tier 4 Regular rate + $10/unit Water use in Tier 5 Regular rate + $20/unit
36367248