With Gov. Jerry Brown calling for stiff fines for the biggest wasters, Santa Clarita Valley water officials say they plan to use digital tools to battle the drought and improve conservation efforts.
Brown called for $10,000 fines for residents and businesses that waste the most water last month.
While Santa Clarita Valley water retailers say no fines have been issued, yet, that could change.
The Newhall County Water District is on the verge of launching a mobile app to allow residents to report excessive water use. Customers can take photos or videos of inefficient use and send it anonymously to the District with a specific location. The district will then follow up to help correct the issue.
In addition to the app, the NCWD recently launched is the Water Efficiency Target program, or WET. Each month, this data, and science-driven program provides residential customers with a customized water use target number.
In response to the water crisis, the Board approved lowering water use targets to help comply with the 28 percent reduction mandate. While the water use targets generally increase in summer months, the new calculation will lower outdoor irrigation numbers for most residential customers substantially.
The Santa Clarita Water Division will be rolling out a centralized hub with a hotline to report water wasters in the future.
Although the Valencia Water Company and the Santa Clarita Water Division do not have an app, the three districts have a similar program in place to report water waste through their website.
Keith Abercrombie, the general manager of the Valencia Water Co., has said that their goal is to save water and not collect fines.
To report water waste through the Newhall County Water District, the Valencia Water Co., or the Santa Clarita Water Division, go to their websites.
With the California drought stretching into its fifth year, California cities have been trying to meet mandatory conservation targets during the drought.
The three districts in Santa Clarita have issued over hundreds of notices of violations.
The Newhall County Water District has a three-step process for its warnings. The first step is a letter stating the violations and the customer will be put on notice. The second step is another letter if the violations have not been corrected. The third step is a notice with a potential fine. The fine starts at $50 and will continue per day until the violation is corrected.
Like the NCWD, the Santa Clarita Water Division also has a three-step process for warnings. The first step is a door hanger with a follow-up. The second step is another notification with a follow-up, either in person or via phone call. The third step is a fine which, like the NCWD, is $50 per day until the customer fixes the problem.
Mauricio Guardado, the Head of SCV Water Committee and the Retail Manager for the Santa Clarita Water Division Castaic Lake Water Agency has said that once people are reminded of the violation, they comply.
The Valencia Water Company has a two-step process for warnings. The first step is a notice in the mail with a follow-up by phone or in person. The second step is another notice in the mail with a follow-up and a potential fine of up to $500.
Abercrombie said people have been very responsive and have complied.
– Heather Harbin
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46 Comments
Gabe Yanez
water restrictions yet, on the cover of canyon country magazine is a piture of a new community going in at Soledad and Sand Canyon with A LAKE!!!!! really!!!!!! more houses, more people, using more water, more traffic!….but really a LAKE
Reporting on neighbors? Are we in Cuba where that is a daily practice?
Who gets the ‘fine’ monies and what will they be spent on? I personally will gladly turn in any city or government agency violating the water restrictions however turning neighbor against neighbor is not the way to control any restrictions. If Brown, water agencies or the city wants to control water waste by having citizens play big brother then he’s in for some potential neighborhood wars and should instead hire water police who’s job would be to enforce the water regulations.
New development using more water…..WITH A LAKE
Stupid govt for not revoking this permit!
Yeah, it sounds absurd, but actually the lake is in the river. All they’d actually be doing is changing the flow of the river, bringing some of the water that’s currently below ground in the Santa Clara River above ground before it continues on its way downstream.
Yeah how much water is in the river now
I dislike that response. That ground water can still be used to survive on. How is it going to help the valley by bringing up and into a lake? Then it can evaporate. If I can’t fill up my jacuzzi, they damn sure shouldn’t be filling a lake.
@SCVTV, that new development with the lake is Sand Canyon Plaza LLC at the corner of Sand Canyon & Soledad. That’s not in the wash. Vista Canyon is in the wash. They claim the water will come from a new water treatment plant at Vista Canyon. Don’t believe the BS from Vista Canyon. A development like that on a small piece of land in the wash is a bad idea.
This is so insane. There is no lake. Who paid off who. I have to let my lawn die yet they continue to build. And a lake? COME ON
Maybe they wait until the drought is over
In my opinion Brown is too worried about putting resources towards the high speed train to nowhere that will not be high speed. Let’s see some real resources put toward the water issues. This should take priority.
Chloe Bird
Snitches get stitches..!
What about fines for the city for broken water pipes?
I won’t be reporting on any neighbors! They’re NEIGHBORS!!!! Wow. Really????????????? How about we end Brown’s fast choo choo train and use those funds to receive water from “neighboring” states who are NOT in a drought????
Exactly!!! Turn in your neighbors sounds like whatHitler told people in Germany to do if they didn’t agree with his Nazi ways. Brown = Nazi!
Wow. Well put. What are we doing here?
I’m in. Watch out neighbors.
Lolol. Jared, was this personal just to bug me, and that’s why you didn’t put it on the main feed? You poor thing……
Ridiculous city and parks look greener than mine. Shame on born I’m not making my neiborhoors enemies.
Stupid government….all they have to do is look at the water bills to figure out who the water wasters are. The only ones I’ll turn is is the local business and local government who are wasting tons of water on grass instead of replacing it with something else.
Until Brown renounces his open invitation for illegals to come to California because he will break federal law to protect them, he can shut up about not having enough water for everyone.
Omg you got that right. I will conserve when illegals are not allowed to use our resources.
No body is going to snitch on their neighbors about having their sprinklers on.
But where can I go to snitch on the city watering the road instead of the plants?
How come everyone just wants to complain about the big bad government’s overuse of water, but won’t do anything themselves? Yeah, they’re not practicing what they’re preaching. But if everyone does the same – where in the hell does that get us? Save water. Report overuse. Don’t be a bunch of whiny sheep.
Yeah guys! Be a blind sheep to the slaughter just like Jared. He believes EVERYTHING he reads.
Wrong. Couldn’t be further from what I was saying, or further from the truth. Again – why is it that because the “government” is being ridiculously negligent with its water conservation, it means that the general public should too? Are they idiots? Mostly. Does that mean we all should be too? That’s your choice. But the drought could care less if you choose to not do your part out of spite.
Blind sheep to slaughter…hahaha, what the hell are you on about woman?
Reporting on Neighbors started in Nazi Germany, spread through Communist Russia and is now here, thanks to Gov. Brown AKA Train to nowhere Czar.
This is TOTAL Gestapo tactics. Neighbors spying on each other. Makes me sick. This here is America.
I’m not a rat so I’m Won’t be reporting anyone!! I hate rats!!
I’m gonna say this once. This planet has never ran out of water. We have never had to rely on sources from outside our planet to exist. My point being is running out of water is nonsense. We just need to drill and tap into the resources our planet has and stop trying to gauge people who simply wanna live
Thank you
If Gov. Moonbeam’s crazy train to nowhere ran on water they’d be building water infrastructure like crazy.
No way Jose,
No way Jose,
Screw that! Besides anyone with skills can manipulate photos and use them against you. The agency has to catch them in the act.
I will report domestic violence, drug use and theft… NOT WATER USAGE!
How about we have a central COUNTY “water waster” app for everyone to use instead of each town having their own thing information would be relatively easy to collate. Here is one app I have but haven’t used yet maybe would work and the towns & counties wouldn’t have to spend resources developing a reporting app. https://www.vizsafe.com/ I drive thru many towns and two counties every day and it would be my guess others do too. Can’t have an app for every town. What do you think???
Rats gets trashed, snitches get stitches
Nothing like 1940 Germany right here in awesometown.
We build oil pipelines thousands of miles under the sea, but we can’t build a water pipeline from WA to CA? Seems retarded.
I’m turning on all of my neighbors hoses after it gets dark.
There is no water for the people that are here, to the point where people are asked to turn against their neighbors, yet there are thousands of new homes being built!!??!! Jerry Brown needs to be fired, he is the worst Governor ever.