Commercial building owners begin to feel sticker shock of water rationing measures.

Commercial building owners begin to feel sticker shock of water rationing measures

Owners of high-rise office buildings built after 1986 in Los Angeles may get a surprise in their water bills this month.

All commercial buildings built after 1986, the year that the city of Los Angeles is using as a measuring stick for water usage, will be allotted five water units a month under water rationing that began this month, said Thomas Jamentz, manager of Water Conservation for the Department of Water and Power.

A water unit is 748 gallons of water, Jamentz said.

"For a large high-rise, it's not going to be enough," Jamentz admitted. The allotment is 13 units of water less than what an average single family residence uses, Jamentz said.

Jamentz expects owners of new Los Angeles skyscrapers to be among the expected 100,000 water customers to file an appeal of their water allotment with the DWP in the next few months over an inability to meet the city's mandatory water rationing plan.

As of March 1, water customers, both residential and commercial, were required to cut their water usage by 10 percent compared to their 1986 usage. On May 1, the city will impose a 15 percent cutback in water usage.

New high-rise owners are being hit with the five unit maximum because there is no way to establish a percentage cut without 1986 usage records.

But commercial high-rise owners aren't the only ones with troubles.

Owners of the city's 500,000 rent-controlled apartment units must pay 50 percent of any fine assessed on a building that doesn't meet the new water use standards.

Apartment owners are "outraged," said Linda Porter, manager of the Apartment and Motel Association of Southern California. The association feels that tenants should pay 75 to 80 percent of water fines.

Apartment owners feel the 50 percent rule is unfair "because there is only so much a landlord can do to control water usage," Porter said.

Water customers who do not meet the rationing standards will be fined 15 percent of the water bill, plus $3 for every unit of over usage, Jamentz said. Customers will have three months to correct any over usage of water, and the first fines will go on bills July 1, he said.

The DWP will keep tabs on water usage during the three-month period, and water usage will be "banked," Jamentz said. If a water customer goes over the water allotment the first month, but saves more than 10 percent the second month, that will be subtracted from the fine, he said.

Jamentz said that the allotment of five units for all commercial buildings built before 1986 will be plenty of water for a liquor store and other types of retail buildings, but probably won't be enough for a large high-rise. Restrooms and air conditioning systems will be the biggest water users for large commercial buildings, Jamentz said.

The city wanted to have a "base" for water usage for commercial buildings and decided on the "low end" of five units, he said.

"We don't know from our billing system if it (the commercial building) is a liquor store or a 40-story high-rise," he said.

If the city allotted 40 water units a month, it would have been too much for most businesses, he said.

Appeals will not be heard until customers receive their first water bills, he said. However Jamentz added that he expects appeals from a number of businesses. He said laundromats and car washes likely will be among those companies experiencing an increase in business because of rationing and needing higher allotments.

Jamentz said that one business customer has already asked for an appeal in advance. The business is a cogeneration plant, which uses steam to make electricity.

The business uses three water meters and therefore has an allowance of 15 water units per month, Jamentz said. However, it takes thousands of units to generate electricity.

"Obviously, they are going to have to appeal to stay in business," he said.

Owners of rent-controlled apartments must share the burden of fines because they have some control over saving water in an apartment complex, said Andy Hoover, supervisor of the registration section of the city's Division of Rent Stabilization. Landlords control the amount of water used for landscaping and are responsible for leaky pipes, Hoover said.

"Those are ridiculous arguments," said Dan Faller, president of the Apartment Owners Association of Southern California. If there is a lawn, it is there for the benefit of the tenants, Fuller said. Landlords fix leaky pipes regularly because tenants complain and they don't want the water to ruin their buildings, he said.

Porter said that apartment associations tried to lobby the city to allow landlords to close laundry rooms in rent-controlled apartment buildings. "That was our first instinct to close laundry rooms, but rent control said no," Porter said.

Hoover said that the city was concerned that closing the laundry rooms "would be an inconvenience to the older tenants, who really rely on those laundry rooms." Also, closing the laundry rooms would not be a conservation measure, since tenants would just have their laundry done elsewhere, he said.

Porter said that landlords may be forced to close pools this summer. She said that some landlords make a deal with tenants that they will keep the pool open if tenants keep water usage down.

Owners of apartments that are not rent-controlled will decide for themselves whether to pay water fines or pass them along to tenants, Faller said. The Division of Rent Stabilization does not have authority over such things in non-rent-controlled complexes.

Faller said that whether rents go up to reflect fines may depend on whether the landlord has a high vacancy rate or if the apartment units are renting above or below market price.

Faller said it is unfair that homeowners who overuse water will be penalized more than apartment tenants who don't meet the rationing requirements.

"If half a penalty will work for tenants, then why won't half a penalty work with homeowners? Why does the homeowner have to pay 100 percent more than the tenant?"