SAN DIEGO - Threats of statewide water shortages and public pleas to cut water use have elicited grumbles from some local residents and farmers who say they shouldn't have to conserve until officials stop building homes and cut off development.

But a number of city, county and water officials rejected that suggestion last week, saying the state's current water problems are a short-term problem, and that building has slowed anyway because of the downturn in the housing market.

The region faces water shortages partly because of drought, but mainly because a court ruling could limit water deliveries from Northern California, which make up two-thirds of this year's life-sustaining imported water supplies.

Already, growers on special discounted water programs have been told they'll get a 30 percent mandatory supply cut Jan. 1. Residents have been asked to voluntarily cut back their own water use.

At an Escondido town hall meeting for growers last month, hundreds of farmers burst into applause when one suggested a countywide moratorium on new hookups for "houses and golf courses."

But officials last week said the housing boom was slowing development anyway, and that everyone should wait to see if the state can find a way to produce new water supplies or fix problems in Northern California.

"I have not heard to any degree that it's time to panic, that we've gotten to the point where it's that serious that we've got to issue a moratorium on building," said Peter Weiss, Oceanside's city manager, referring to the fact that calls for conservation have been voluntary, not mandatory.

Clay Phillips, Escondido's city manager, said, "Building new homes is not a big issue right now."

Growers are not alone in their unhappiness.

Glenn Carroll, a retired prisons administrator living in Fallbrook, said he resents being asked to cut back his own residential water use.

"With the ongoing approval of new development, I'm convinced the water we're being asked to cut back is going to supply this new development," Carroll said, adding that he thought there should be a moratorium "until we see what shakes out in the water picture."

Water outlook grim

California's water picture got bleaker in August when a federal court judge said the pumps that send Northern California rainfall and snow melt to Southern California and the rest of the state through the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta would have to be cut back next year to protect an endangered fish, the delta smelt.

Southern California's main water supplier, the Metropolitan Water District, has said the ruling could cut the region's delta supplies by 30 percent next year.

The looming shortages have already had effects. Water agencies statewide, including Metropolitan and the San Diego County Water Authority, have called for people to cut water use. If people conserve now, they say, it will leave more water in storage to buttress next year's supplies.

The question of how possible water shortages and development mix, meanwhile, are bound to increase.

State legislators tied growth and water supplies together in 2001, requiring water departments, cities, counties and developers to state they have enough water before approving big developments.

Planning and water officials said that is typically done through the water agency's water management plans, which use population growth estimates and the agency's own water supply information to project how they'll meet increasing demands for five to 20 years.

Dana Friehauf, senior water resources manager for the Water Authority, said the agency may revisit its annual supply projections in light of the recent federal court ruling. However, Friehauf said, that will not happen until the judge's final written decision is recorded sometime in December.

Jeff Murphy, interim deputy director of San Diego County's planning department, said the county had 1,200 tentative letters suggesting there is water available for project proposals large and small in its queue.

Government and developers have their desires. For example, Escondido hopes to build condominium type housing in its downtown corridor; Oceanside has dreams of hotels and timeshares; some American Indian tribes have talked about annexation to the Water Authority's supplies and there are large developments proposed for North County's I-15 corridor and Chula Vista in South County.

Still, most officials said development has slowed because of the housing market. Building permits in the county are down. Aaron Adams, assistant city manager in Temecula - a boom town for development until recently - said developers are holding back because they don't know if they can sell their products.

Discussion

The conservation-development issue has triggered some discussion among water agency officials.

Keith Lewinger, general manager of Fallbrook's water district and its Water Authority board member, told other directors recently that he opposed the idea of annexing new water clients to the Water Authority's supplies because of the looming shortages.

Other directors said the agency should consider annexations because the predicted shortages could be temporary if state legislators can "fix" the delta problems.

Lori Holt Pfeiler, Escondido's mayor and vice chairwoman of the San Diego Association of Governments - a regional planning agency - said she would consider asking Water Authority officials to come and talk to the association's board about the water-supply concerns.

David Kreitzer, chairman of the county's planning commission, said he personally thought it might be time to put a hold on development because of the water question, and that he would ask the commission to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, Carlsbad Mayor and Water Authority board member Claude "Bud" Lewis summed up the questions on the issue at a recent board meeting.

Lewis said the conservation-development question was becoming very political in Carlsbad. The city was pushing people to conserve, and people were asking why they should because the city has development projects.

"It's a Catch 22," he said. "It's pretty hard to respond to them. There's no solution to it unless we just shut down everything, or we provide all the water that's necessary to put in all these developments."

- Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.