Dry Conditions Could Prod Water Cops to Police San Diego Usage

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 13, 2007 at 1:24 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

San Diego water officials are watching a Los Angeles plan to use water patrols. Because of record dry conditions water agencies throughout California are urging voluntary conservation. But if that doe

San Diego water officials are watching a Los Angeles plan to use water patrols. Because of record dry conditions water agencies throughout California are urging voluntary conservation. But if that doesn't work, we could face mandatory restrictions. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce explains.

In Los Angeles, water cops will be on the streets soon trying to stop people from wasting water. It's one way L.A. is trying to stress voluntary conservation.

Become a KPBS sponsor

Ken Weinberg is the director of Water Resources for the San Diego County Water Authority . He says if voluntary conservation doesn't work here, we could have water cops too.

Weinberg : If conditions get worse, you know if we have a dry year, if water supplies are constrained, you know we may have to do more. I think just as they're thinking about doing things in Los Angeles.

Weinberg says there are ordinances on the books in San Diego County from the 1987-92 drought. He says those laws spell out how water use is restricted and provide financial penalties for violators. He says the tighter the water supply, the tighter the water restrictions.

Weinberg says whether we'll be facing odd-even watering days and other restrictions depends on how much snow and rain falls this winter.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

twitter

Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

See stories by Ed Joyce