The City was asked to cut its usage by only 8%.
Instead, they increased by 15% compared to June 2013.
City Manager Jesus Gomez stuck up for his city, pointing out that El Monte already uses less water than other nearby communities and is still comfortably below the state average.
Additionally, the city has not been idle in trying to correct this problem themselves, as a proposal has come before the El Monte City Council twice now in order to implement a stage 4 “high shortage” conservation plan. This proposal however has not passed a vote twice now, something Mayor Andre Quintero has described as “absolutely frustrating.”
The city is still operating under a stage 2 “emerging shortage” plan, implemented in 2009, which only asks for residents to refrain from hosing down sidewalks and driveways as well as watering lawns after 8 pm and before 6 am, meaning that residents are still allowed to water 7 days a week. The stage 4 plan would cut that down to 2 days a week, so there is obviously some easy progress to be made.
Still, the rise in usage means the state water board is probably coming to town with some stern words. If problems persist, the city could face fines of $500 to $10,000 a day, officials say.
To view drought report cards for every water district in the state, see here.
For the whole story on El Monte’s water practices, see here.
Image Credit: Flickr User semtex13, https://flic.kr/p/6dpH6t via (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)