15 Water Clients Rationed

Crescenta Valley County Water District officials began severely limiting water supplies to 15 properties in La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta Wednesday in an attempt to force property owners to hook up with the public sewer system.

Robert Argenio, general manager of the water district, said the properties will have special devices installed in their water lines to limit the flow of water from 30 gallons a minute to about half a gallon a minute. That would provide enough water for cooking, drinking and basic sanitary needs, but nothing more, he said.

Because most of the properties are occupied by renters, not owners, the renters will be most affected by the reduced water flow until the owners comply with the ordinance, which took effect in January, 1982, Argenio said.

Property owners could receive fines of up to $500, a six-month jail term, or both, under the district ordinance, he said. As its “very last resort,” district officials could install the sewer hookups as an emergency health measure and place a lien on the property for reimbursement, he said.

Under the district ordinance, property owners for the last three years have been told they must install sewer connections and have received several notices about deadlines.

The properties not in compliance all are in the district’s Unit I sewer system, which serves the area south of Foothill Boulevard. Sewer service in that unit became available in March, 1982. The district want the 1,810 properties in Unit I to stop using septic tanks and be connected with the sewers in an attempt to protect the ground-water basin in the area.

Property owners in Unit II, which serves the area north of Foothill, have been given until the end of the year to hook up to the sewer system, which went into operation in March, 1983.