Excessive Use Penalty

Excessive Use Ordinance in Effect 

The EBMUD Board of Directors voted to reinstate the Excessive Use Penalty Ordinance at its April 26, 2022 meeting. 

Excessive Water Use Penalty Ordinance now in effect.

Following the driest January through March on record, on April 26, 2022 the EBMUD Board of Directors declared a Stage 2 drought with a mandatory District-wide 10 percent water use reduction goal. The Board also activated the Excessive Water Use Penalty Ordinance, which encourages conservation and protects water supplies by setting penalties for single-family residential customers whose water use exceeds a specified threshold. For Stage 2 droughts, that threshold is 132 units per two-month billing period, or roughly 1,646 gallons per day.

The first time a customer exceeds the threshold during a drought, they will receive a warning and would not be in violation of the Ordinance until they have a second exceedance. The warning provides customers the opportunity to make leak repairs, reduce irrigation, change behaviors, or take other actions to reduce household water use. Customers who violate the Ordinance will be subject to a penalty of $2 per unit if water used above the threshold. In addition, EBMUD is legally required to respond to California Public Records Act requests with the name, water usage data, and home address of any customers who violate the ordinance.

EBMUD is contacting customers who may be affected by the ordinance, based on past water use, to inform them that they may fall within the water use threshold of the ordinance.

Background

EBMUD established an Excessive Water Use Ordinance on April 28, 2015, effective May 29, 2015, that prohibited the excessive use of water. As EBMUD was in a Stage 4 drought at that time, single-family residential customers who used more than 80 units (59,840 gallons) of water per billing period were subject to a $2 penalty for each unit (or portion of a unit) over the 80-unit threshold. The ordinance was suspended on May 3, 2016 when the drought was declared over.

On August 30, 2016, the Governor signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 814, adding language to the Water Code (commencing with section 365) that prohibits “excessive water use” by single family residential customers whenever mandatory rationing is in effect, or when the District is affected by a drought declared by the Governor based on local conditions. Each urban retail water supplier is required to define “excessive water use” within its boundaries and establish a method of identifying and discouraging such excessive water use.

To comply with California State law, on September 28, 2021, EBMUD’s Board of Directors amended the excessive use penalty ordinance to include lower-level droughts and to adjust penalty thresholds.

The amended ordinance is now active during stage 2, 3 and 4 droughts, as well as during applicable Governor-declared drought emergencies. The ordinance establishes a penalty of $2 per unit of water used above the following thresholds:

• Stage 2 droughts: 66 units per month, or roughly 1,646 gallons per day
• Stage 3 droughts: 59 units per month (approximately 1,471 gallons per day)
• Stage 4 droughts: 40 units per month (approximately 1,000 gallons per day).

The Board also added a warning for the first exceedance to allow customers an opportunity to make leak repairs, reduce irrigation, change behaviors, or take other actions to reduce household water use. Therefore, the first time a customer exceeds the threshold during a drought cycle, they will not be in violation of the ordinance.

Appeal an Excessive Use Penalty

An imposed penalty may be appealed for a valid medical reason or in the case of District billing error, demonstrable meter malfunction, or a water leak that resulted in water loss that did not benefit the account holder. If you wish to appeal this penalty, please fill out and return the appeal form (available below). Please include photos or other evidence supporting your appeal.

• The appeal must be signed and dated by the appellant/account holder.
• Incomplete or unreadable appeals will be denied.
• Your appeal must be post-marked within 15 calendar days of the date of the water bill for the billing cycle in which the penalty was imposed.
• You will receive a response from EBMUD within 30 days of EBMUD’s receipt of your appeal.
• Appeals must be mailed. Faxes or emails are not accepted.

Mail your appeal to:

EBMUD Excessive Water Penalty Ordinance Appeals
c/o EBMUD Customer Services Division
P.O. Box 24055, MS #42
Oakland, CA 94623-1055