California Not Cracking Down On Water Wasters

Even after California authorized $500 fines for water wasting, cities are not handing out that many tickets.

"For all the tough talk about cracking down on water wasters, Los Angeles and other California cities are choosing gentle coaxing over costly fines," Governing magazine reported.

Los Angeles has beefed up its water inspection staff, but the troop is focused mainly on education.

"Until now, the Department of Water and Power [had] assigned just one inspector to drive around handling complaints of water wasting in a city of 4 million people," the Los Angeles Times recently reported. "The DWP said [in August] it now has four water-wasting inspectors, but officials emphasized that their job will be more educational than enforcement."

Between January and June, the DWP received 1,400 violation reports, doled out 863 warning letters, and issued no fines, according to the report.

Local officials have gained significant new power to punish water wasters this year. "California is giving local governments more authority over urban water wasters as the state's historic drought continues," E&E News reported. 

But similar to Los Angeles, many cities are choosing not to use that power.

Instead, they have "found it more effective to warn residents about using too much water than to ticket them," the report said.

Warnings are actually pretty powerful, according to Max Gomberg, the State Water Resources Control Board senior environmental scientist.

“Usually, just getting a notice is going to take care of whatever the issue is,” he said to the LA Times. “The citations are reserved for either people who are oblivious or simply refuse to help out.”

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