Drought watch: what the Albuquerque water utility did and did not do

As I reported in this morning’s newspaper, the board of Albuquerque’s municipal water utility is launching us into what they call a “drought watch”, which involves increased fines for letter water dribble down the gutter in front of your house. Also, more water conservation education.

During last night’s board meeting, there was some interesting pushback from a couple of members of the public (Michael Jensen and Elaine Hebard) who have been repeatedly arguing for stronger measures. Here’s a rundown of what the “drought watch” policy includes, along with what a stronger “drought warning” policy (which the board did not do) would have entailed:

Drought Watch:

• increased public education (money for PR campaign)
• doubled fines for “wasting” (defined here as letter water run down the street in front of your home or business)
• $20 rebate for taking a “drought smart” class

Here’s what a stronger “Drought Warning” policy would have looked like:

• as with the drought watch, more money for PR campaign
• as with the drought watch, doubled fines for “wasting”
• doubled surcharges, the amount added to your bill for high summertime water use
• mandatory “water by the numbers” (just three days per week in the summer)
• no outdoor watering at all between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• distribution of low-flow shower heads and shower timers.

What do you think? Has the Water Utility gone far enough?