WATER: Agency mulls ending agriculture discount

By BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer | Monday, June 9, 2008 1:52 PM PDT ∞

Metropolitan Water District is scheduled Tuesday to tackle the fate of a discounted water rate for growers in addition to calling for more water conservation.

Southern California's main water wholesaler, Metropolitan supplies water agencies from San Diego to Ventura counties. A combination of below-average precipitation and environmental restrictions threatens to draw down reservoirs faster than water officials expected.

Growers who bought discounted water under the Interim Agricultural Water Program have had deliveries cut by 30 percent, something they agreed to in the event of shortages when they signed up. Locally, growers have cut down thousands of citrus and avocado trees to save water.

The cut in water deliveries was supposed to be a rare event, but the water supply outlook has worsened so the cuts are expected to happen repeatedly. So Metropolitan is considering whether to make changes to the program.

The discount program would be studied for six months, and a final recommendation brought back to Metropolitan's board of directors for action in December, under a staff proposal. Alternatives include keeping the program as it is, phasing out the program, changing the pricing structure and eliminating the discounts altogether.

Metropolitan is also expected to move into the second of a three-tier water shortage system. Southern California is in the lowest-urgency tier, a "water supply watch", which relies on voluntary conservation and building up supplies.

Under the proposed "water supply alert," Metropolitan will recommend that its member agencies take stronger steps to reduce water use, such as imposing higher rates for heavy water users, restricting hours of outdoor watering and increasing the use of recycled water.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.

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Beth-San Marcos wrote on Jun 9, 2008 1:44 PM:What is wrong with THIS PICTURE? Cut water to growers? The very ones who provide our food source! Yet, cities across this state are putting in more and more landscaping in the middle of streets. And why do they continue to issue building permits? I think the priorities here are just Wrong!

Concerned and doing something about it wrote on Jun 10, 2008 2:58 PM:The individual cities are the ones that determine what landscaping goes into the center dividers and roadsides, not your water suppliers. The Cities are the ones who require these builders to put in all the green areas in the new developments.

We need to go to more city council meetings and voice our opinions about this. Tell them to plant native plants in the center dividers and hardscape the other areas. We don't need more grass to water. We don't need water-thirsty plants on the freeway offramps. We live in a desert and it's about time we started acting like it.

New housing is inevitable and necessary for economic growth. As taxpayers, we can't really stop that, but what we can do is have a voice in our city council meetings and tell them to stop with all the plants. There ARE alternatives.

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