Nearly 100,000 customers in San Marcos’ Vallecitos Water District are being asked to cut their water use back by 24 percent, and officials will be patrolling to streets starting Monday to ensure the changes happen.
The move comes after stricter measures in response to a report noting Californians are still using too much water during this ongoing drought. Some parts of San Diego County are being mandated to cut usage by 36 percent.
Up to four people working in teams of two generally patrol the streets 4 a.m. to 6 p.m., officials said, though 46 of their employees can patrol if needed.
“We’re out there driving around not to fine, not to come in with a heavy-handed approach,” General Manager Dennis Lamb said. “What we want to do is reach out to them and give them any assistance we can on how to conserve water.”
Lamb says what the district is doing is not water policing, but water patrolling. By the time July rolls around, he said, the district will better understand the type of cooperation they are getting and potentially step up enforcement in the months following.
“It may be light-handed, but what we’ve found over the years is our rate payers are always responsive to us,” said Lamb. “In the ‘93 drought the ’97, every time we’ve had this come up, they’ve responded in a positive fashion.”
In the district, residential water use accounts for 80 percent of usage. Businesses account for 10 percent and agriculture accounts for 8.8 percent.
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The water district is trying to educate the people in their district and not necessarily tell them what to do.
“We don’t want to have wasteful use of water,” Lamb said. “And it just may be time that ornamental grass on your lawn could be non-essential use.”
The district said they only fined one person in 2014 and after a $100 fine, the man stopped.
Some in San Marcos feel as if conserving during the drought is a service to their state.
Heidi Rassatt, a San Marcos resident, said her and her husband feel strongly that as the drought worsens, they need to do their part. They have rain barrels and have installed drip systems on their sprinklers.
Still, she does not necessarily agree with the water district starting patrols.
“I think they don’t understand,” Rassatt said. “I don’t like the picking on neighbors. I like the better approach, where you explain to them; maybe we could be a good example in neighborhood [for those] who loved what we did.”
She said she loves California and wants to do as much as she can to preserve water.
“I hope it encourages people to do more and what I would like to see is my generation be a good example for generations coming back,” Rassatt said.
