Agenda - City of Santa Monica

The State formula for calculating GPCD is not the standard formula used in the water
conservation field. The standard formula divides the water used by the residents by the
number of residents. Following this formula residents are only using 86 G PCD. The
State formula divides all the water used by all of the customers (businesses, residents,
and landscapes) and divides that by the number of residents. This does not allow the
City to include the nearly 250,000 daily visitors to the City in the calculation.
Option 2
To implement Option 2, “Proposed Policy Consideration,” the City would close the gap
of 6,500 AF, achieve water self-sufficiency and meet the SBx7-7 target of 123 GPCD by
2020 through very aggressive water conservation programs and policies, limited new
groundwater supplies, new rainwater harvesting and stormwater capture programs
described above. In this scenario, it is estimated that the City’s per capita water use
would be 123 GPCD in 2020.
In order to reduce demand to levels low enough to permanently achieve a per capita
water use of 123 GPCD, 2,880 AF of the City’s potable water demand must be reduced
or offset by non-potable sources and new regulations requiring residential and
commercial property owners to retrofit plumbing fixtures, landscaping with water-saving
plants and irrigation, or banning sprinklers and lawns before 2020. Staff is asking for
Council’s comments on the new policies proposed below by the Advisory Committee for
the SWMP. The proposed policies target specific customer categories that have the
highest potential for saving water.
• Ban sprinklers and lawns in residential properties - savings 1,280 AFY
• Ban sprinklers in the parkways but allow for hand-watering of street trees
• Require all hotels to retrofit plumbing fixtures to meet the City’s current Green
Building Ordinance requirements
• Require landscaping to meet the City’s current Green Building Ordinance
requirements before the sale of the property
• Require City-owned facilities and landscapes to reduce water use
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