Im still on the warpath. I wrote letters to Mr. Ron Litzinger, President of Southern California Edison, an e-mail to the State Water Quality Resources Board and filed a complaint with the Public Utilities Commission using their on-line form, (https://appsssl.cpuc.ca.gov/cpucapplication/). The essence of my submissions is that SCE should allocate water use under all Phases of the rationing plan based on equal amounts to each resident (subject to variances needed for medical or other reasons). No one should get an allocation of 9 gal/person/day while others receive 40-70 g/p/d. My other suggestion is that those who have religiously conserved water in our community for years should receive a minimum per person daily allowance consistent with maintaining public health and safety. There are laws requiring some water utilities to provide a minimum amount of water, but I dont know whether they apply in our case or not. I filed the complaint with the PUC because the current rationing plan is part of a tariff approved by the PUC based on the circumstances surrounding our drought in the late 1970s. I made the point that most toilets at that time were fresh water and that made conservation easier to implement with the yellow-mellow/brown-flush down protocol. Today, with most of our toilets on salt water, we no longer have that relatively easy means of effecting water conservation. Most of us also do not use fresh water for exterior lawns and gardens. That is another significant area in which conservation can be implemented, but one most of us do not have. This is not about me alone... it is about fairness towards the many residents who practiced conservation over the years and have fewer options to reduce their use by 25% than those who used lots of water in the past.. Hmmm... I wonder how many of those with substantial allocations under Phase II have filed for variances to reduce their allocations?
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 01:26:15 +0000