Water fees may triple for some Los Angeles County residents who miss state drought targets

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (KABC) -- Some Los Angeles County residents may see their water bills triple if they don't cut their consumption to meet state drought relief targets.

Los Angeles County supervisors are set to consider surcharges of 100 to 200 percent for customers in Lancaster, Marina del Rey, Malibu and Topanga Canyon who fail to cut consumption.

The proposal calls on customers to cut consumption by 32 percent in the Antelope Valley, 36 percent in Malibu, Marina del Rey and Topanga Canyon, and 25 percent in Acton, Kagel Canyon and Val Verde.

Water rates would not change for water use below state targets, which are based on collective water use patterns over the past several years.

If you don't meet state targets, the plan would add a 100-percent surcharge, effectively doubling the bill. If your usage was 15 percent over the mandated low, the penalty would grow to 200 percent, meaning your bill would triple.

The baseline amount will be the average water you used before the drought caused officials to ask for voluntary conservation. This means people who conserved water before the drought will face the same cutback penalties that wasteful users will face, two Malibu City Council members pointed out.

Marina del Rey resident Kathleen Travis is all for fining water abusers.

"I could see maybe if you go above tier one, then you're charged so much. Then if you hit tier three, you ought to have your water turned off because you're just being not responsible," Travis said.

Since Travis has already been using very little water, her baseline for comparison is already low. She says she does know how she would be able to cut back even more.

Travis uses all recycled water to water plants, collects rain water and even dug up her front lawn so she has no grass to water.

"Every drop, I'm conscious of every drop that I use," said Travis, who has been conserving water for years.

"If they can come up with another idea for me, have them come over because I'd be really curious as to what they'd say," Travis said.

The plan would affect areas where the county runs self-supporting water districts.

A public hearing on the proposal will be held Tuesday afternoon.

City News Service contributed to this report.