BREA : Agricultural Users Must Save Water

Agricultural users will have to cut water consumption by 25% under a resolution approved Tuesday night by the City Council.

Only three businesses will be affected by the plan, according to Pat McCarron, city director of maintenance services. To qualify as an agricultural user, a company must produce food or raise fowl or livestock for human consumption, he said. Nurseries do not qualify.

The resolution was unanimously approved despite calls by the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies the city with water, for a 50% reduction among agricultural users.

According to a staff report, water-reduction goals can be reached with a 25% cutback.

“If water consumption remains at the same rate, there could be as much as 349 available acre-feet before any penalties would apply,” the report stated.

The mandatory water measure is the second passed in Brea this year. In April, the council approved a 10% reduction for residential consumers. Nurseries and agricultural users were exempted from that plan.

Failure to comply with the resolution passed this week could result in a misdemeanor punishable by 30 days in jail or a $1,000 fine. However, McCarron said he is working closely with the businesses to help them avoid penalties.

“We are going to try and do it with public relations,” he said. “The biggest agricultural users, they are fine with it.”