Pleasanton Approves Steep Fines Against Water Wasters
PLEASANTON (CBS SF) – Residents in the Tri-Valley community of Pleasanton are being asked to save water or face hefty fines.
On Tuesday night, the city council voted to reinstate heavy fines against people who don't cut their water bills 25 percent below what they used in 2013.
Here's how the fees work. Let's say a customer uses 100 units of water in 2013. In 2014, the customer uses 100 more units, failing to cut usage by 25 percent. The user would get charged $4 per unit used, a $400 fee.
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"Is it high? Yes. And did it work? Yes," said Daniel Smith, Director of Operations Services for the City of Pleasanton.
People who do cut their usage by 25 percent will see a 25 percent savings on their bill.
Not everyone is a fan of the system, but most people who live in Pleasanton have been conserving water for the past year or two, and they're used to the dry lawns that come with it.
"We can only cut back so much at this point because we already are not using much," said Pleasanton resident Andy Aguilar.
City officials said 97 percent of people in Pleasanton cut their usage by 25 percent last year, saving 1.7 billion gallons of water.
"It's worked great. Our community really did a fantastic job," Smith said.
The fees take effect May 15th.