SHEENA DE WALL | arts & culture editor
As of Nov. 1, 2007 the city of Azusa declared a ‘Phase II’ water shortage and plans to declare a ‘Phase III’ shortage on Dec. 1 if dry weather conditions persist.
“In normal years, our normal sources were self-sufficient in ground water. But because of the drought, both the local ground water and surface water has been severely depleted,” Assistant Director of Resource Management for the city of Azusa Bob Tang said. “We are trying to avoid a crisis, but we’re not in a crisis now.”
The new ordinances focus specifically on the residential water consumers of the city of Azusa, honing in on water usage for landscaping and lawn watering purposes.
“Our goals now are centered on educating the customer in stringent water conservation efforts,” Tang said.
Phase II of the “Emergency Water Shortage Declaration” includes all the measures listed in the Phase I water shortage announcement plus the following requirements listed on the city’s webpage:
“All water customers of Azusa Light & Water must reduce their monthly water consumption by 10 percent from the corresponding month of the prior calendar year.” The Phase III December ordinances call for a further 20 percent reduction.
Above and beyond this consumption reduction, Azusa residents must limit landscape watering to two days per week and between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. In addition, based on residents’ street addresses, landscape watering is restricted to either “Wednesday and Saturday” watering or “Thursday and Sunday” watering only.
“We are asking customers to take this drought into account and actively pursue water conservation efforts,” Tang said.
According to California’s state webpage, Southern California as a whole is experiencing its driest year on record. Only 2.47 inches of rain have fallen in downtown Los Angeles since July 1, 2007, which is only 18 percent of normal rainfall for this time of year.
“We pump out more water than we are putting in, so we have a deficit. The winter time is when you recharge and bring the levels back up, but since we’ve had a drought the last year our deficits are continuing even into the fall when we would normally recover,” Water Poduction Supervisor at Azusa Light & Water Steve Seffer said.
It is not just Southern California that has been affected by the droughts, but Northern California as well as Colorado. These other areas are where the city typically purchases “replenishment water” to be imported and placed into Azusa’s water treatment plants.
Also hindering water replenishment strategies in Azusa is a lawsuit that was filed by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance in Dec. 2006 with the aim of saving the rapidly-decreasing population of the Bay-Delta smelt fish. Due to this suit, water that is being pumped from the Bay-Delta has been closely monitored and has even slowed in recent months.
Nearly two-thirds of the state of California, approximately 20 million people, receives its water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta area.
“We pump as much as our demand is but we can only pump a certain amount, and then if we go over that we have to purchase the imported water to put back into the basins,” Seffer said. “Right now it’s water conservation that’s going to help since we’re limited to local water and limited to imported water. That’s why we’re in Phase II and into Phase III in December.”
Azusa Light & Water held a meeting last month with their largest water customers, which include Miller Brewing Co., APU, Covina Valley Unified and Azusa Unified school districts.
“The drought is serious and the city is not playing around,” Associate Director of Facilities Management Bill Asher said.
According to Asher two of APU’s main concerns are maintaining safety for students on the athletic fields and the appearance of APU as a product.
“Many students come on campus and they’re looking for a place to go to school next year and the appearance of the campus really plays a part in that decision,” Asher said.
APU uses approximately 7.7 million gallons of water a year. Statistically, that’s equivalent to 117 Olympic sized swimming pools full of water.
Last year APU spent an estimated $180,000 in water alone. The 10 percent cut for Phase II looks achievable according to Asher, but the 20 percent cut for December looks to be more of a stretch.
“The last couple of years we’ve taken some water conservation steps already, so there’s really very little low hanging fruit for us to get to that 20 percent,” Asher said.
It’s been approximately two years since APU started focusing on water conservation. Facilities Management has installed new instant hot water heaters as well as new water saving showerheads and low flow toilets and urinals in the living areas.
“We’re looking at putting signs out on the corners letting the community know why we’re looking a little less, and asking if they would join us in our water conservation efforts,” Asher said.
Incoming freshmen and transfers were given a list of water saving tips and emails have been sent out alerting the community to the seriousness of the drought situation. There is also a “Drought Hotline” (626-812-5119) where Azusa residents and the APU community alike can call for more information about the drought and various policies in place under this Phase II declaration.
“With how important and how drastic the situation is, facilities management can only do so much. We’re not with every student all of the time,” Asher said. “The little things that students do to aid in water conservation will add up in the long run to significant savings.” 
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