I thought Rob Davis made two especially relevant points in the latest in his running, in-depth coverage of our region’s water woes.
The first: He offered what is so far the clearest articulation of the main flaw in Mayor Jerry Sanders’ water plan:
The city’s chosen strategy, if approved by the City Council, will set water-use ceilings for each resident. Those who’ve used the most historically will have the highest ceilings; those who’ve used the least will have the lowest — regardless of their property size or whether they’re using water efficiently. (The stingiest water-saving residents — 21 percent in all — will not be cut.)
That’s the persistent criticism of San Diego’s plan for cutting consumption: Residents in one single-family home may be penalized for using gallon No. 100,001. A next-door neighbor who irrigates more may not be penalized until using gallon No. 500,001.
Sanchez said that’s a drawback to San Diego’s strategy. “You can inadvertently penalize the most efficient customers when you base allocations off historic use,” she said.
The second: This startling tidbit, which helps explain perhaps why the city’s been offering up incorrect information on a rival water cut plan:
In an interview Friday, Ruiz said he based his representations about Irvine Ranch on a presentation an Irvine Ranch official gave last fall to local water agencies. Ruiz said he was 20 minutes late to the presentation. He did not recall how much of the presentation he’d watched nor the presenter’s name.