California Water Use Restrictions Were Lifted Last Spring, But Sierra Madre Is Still Looking At New Ways To Fine Residents For Overconsumption

The following article appeared in the Sacramento Bee last May (link). It was one of hundreds of such articles that ran all across the country announcing the end of statewide water use restrictions here in California. This was certainly very big news for a lot of municipalities as the draconian financial penalties that had been called for by the state were lifted, sparing them the potential loss of significant amounts of precious revenue.


So why is it the City Council is still chasing its 30% water use conservation number? This from a Tuesday evening City Council meeting agenda report (link).


Granted, Sierra Madre does have some unique problems. Despite recent rains (and the prospect for much more), its aquifers remain low. The city therefore has to purchase a lot of water from the SGVMWD, a greedy bunch of CalPERS timeservers who continue to charge this community draconian rates for their subpar product.

That said, and with new water rate increases apparently now on the way, is any of this really justified any longer? And were this were to continue, is City Hall really that much better than the greed-heads at the SGVMWD?

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