City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County
Santa Ana Adopts Drought Penalty Effective Immediately
City Council Establishes Excessive Use Penalty To Further Incentivize Water Conservation
The Santa Ana City Council at its meeting on August 4, 2015 approved amendments to the city’s existing water conservation program and adopted an excessive water use penalty designed to encourage water conservation during the ongoing drought. The penalty is in response to the mandated statewide 25% potable water-use reduction, as outlined in Governor Brown’s executive order of April 1, and the City of Santa Ana’s Stage II Water Supply Shortage resolution requiring a 12% citywide reduction in water usage.
Under the Santa Ana Municipal Code sections 39-111 and 39-112, Santa Ana water customers who do not reduce their monthly water use by 12%, using 2013 as the base year, will be assessed an excessive use penalty of $4.65 per unit (1 unit=100 cubic feet=748 gallons). For example, a customer who used 33 units of water in 2013 would have a target reduction of 4 units or a target consumption of 29 units. If the customer exceeded this target and used 32 units (3 units over the target consumption), the customer would be assessed a penalty of $4.65 per unit over the limit or $13.95 (3 units x $4.65) in addition to the base rate. Continue reading