Daily Star readers bust water wasters

Readers complained about these violations after an article last month showed problems in enforcement of a city law banning such water waste. After the Star called the city about them, all were fixed, although in one case Tucson Water officials said they were already trying to plug a leaky Far East Side city water line.

Reader complaints indirectly led to discovery of a fourth violation: water running onto East Broadway from the city's Reid Park, which has also been stopped.

"We have to be more vigilant and embrace the fact that water is the most precious resource for any city," said City Councilman Jose Ibarra.

Tucson Water Director David Modeer's department has taken sharp criticism for not fining any violators for five years.

Mayor Bob Walkup and all six council members say they favor fines for repeat violators, particularly owners of commercial properties and apartments.

For first-time offenders, most council members favor education programs. Modeer plans to start a diversion program — like traffic school for water wasters, he says.

Midtown site audit planned

Midtown resident Paul Cain led the Star to illegal water waste last month at the headquarters of HSL Properties at 3901 E. Broadway, at the northeast corner of Broadway and Alvernon Way.

Cain said he has regularly seen water flowing onto Alvernon as early as 5 a.m., when he drives past the area to the Casa Maria Free Kitchen on the South Side, where he works as a volunteer.

Early on June 24, water was puddled on the sidewalk and street next to HSL and was running west down Broadway from the site for about a half-block. After the Star called Tucson Water and the department called HSL, the company replaced a broken sprinkler which stopped the flow of water onto the street. HSL owns four hotels and 28 apartment complexes in the Tucson area.

This was the sixth time since 2001 that Tucson Water received complaints about this site, records show. The company would fix the problems, then they would reoccur, said Tracey Berry, who until recently was the city's lone "water cop," but is now a Tucson Water grounds-maintenance supervisor.

Once Berry's replacement and two more water cops are hired in August or September, Tucson Water plans to have an audit conducted at the site, and will tell the company to turn in an action plan to correct the irrigation system's problems, said Fernando Molina, Tucson Water's conservation program manager.

Omar Mireles, an HSL executive vice president, said that because the company pays for the water that runs down the street, it has no objection to having an audit done if the city is concerned about systemic issues at the site.

Just west of HSL on Broadway, water was dripping onto the street that same morning, June 24, from the north edge of Reid Park. To fix the problem, the city last week replaced three sprinkler heads that were not operating properly and reset three other heads, said Carlos Guzman, the park's operations superintendent.

Water line to blame for leak

At first, the water pouring into a storm drain along East Broadway on the Far East Side in early June appeared to be streaming from a shopping center. Ultimately, the culprit turned out to be a city water line.

A neighborhood activist and the property manager of the Montesa Plaza shopping center, 50 S. Houghton Road, at Broadway, said they reported the leak to the city in early June, but the water didn't stop running for two weeks.

On June 20, water was still bubbling into the drain from a pipe at the bottom of a rock wall on the center's west side.

"It's a total waste of resources," said Frank Salbego, the Eastside Neighborhood Association's president, as he watched the water roll.

The leak was fixed later that week, after the Star called Tucson Water about it. Tucson Water officials and Montesa Plaza property manager Julie Niles said they had been working on the leak for several weeks.

Niles said that in early June, she had discovered the water going down the drain while walking the property and noticing how green the area's plants were.

After an investigation determined the water wasn't coming from the center, it took a while for city officials to find and plug their leak, said Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky.

"With a shopping center, it's difficult," Basefsky said. "You've got a management service, you've got the irrigation service, you've got the owners, you've got to go through channels."

Gas station water leak stopped

For three months, West Sider Frank Valenzuela said he watched water dribble onto the street from the edge of a driveway of a Conoco gas station at 1530 W. St. Mary's Road.

The sight frustrated Valenzuela because he said he ripped out oleander bushes and a grass lawn a decade ago because he couldn't afford the water.

"They keep saying that we're running out of water," said Valenzuela, a retired custodial supervisor at the University of Arizona. "These people here are just throwing it away."

Leland Gould, a vice president for the station's Phoenix-area owner, Giant Industries, said that after the Star called the parent company, work crews went to the station and found a very small leak in an underground water line. The next day, the leak was repaired.

Officials pledge vigilance

Modeer, Tucson Water's director, said he wants to get a better handle on water waste from businesses and apartment complexes.

While they're not the source of as many complaints as single-family homes, he said the complaints about nonhomeowner waste have been the most difficult to resolve.

Often, that's because owners of commercial properties live out of state and the city must deal with landscape contractors, property managers and maintenance officials to get a busted sprinkler head fixed.

By early next year, the department plans to start a diversion program, in which a business cited for a water-waste violation can get a waiver of the city's authorized $250 to $500 fine per violation, Tucson Water spokesman Basefsky said. Exactly how the program will work is still under discussion.

But some likely elements are that company officials would have to attend a class on landscape irrigation, pay for an audit of their irrigation system's efficiency and fix their problems to avoid a fine.

If the companies don't take these steps, they will have to pay fines, even on the first offense, Modeer said.

Before the program can begin, the city first must hire a replacement for the water cop who just transferred to another job, as well as two additional water cops, Modeer said.

"We really need to focus on education and prevention. I honestly believe most businesses are part of this community and want to be part of our effort to conserve our resources," said Councilwoman Nina Trasoff. "If we have egregious offenders, I think they need to be fined. Enforcement has to have teeth to it."

But Councilman Ibarra said he believes three water cops aren't enough, and the city probably needs six, working in separate areas. All city employees, not just those at Tucson Water, should be trained to recognize water waste so they can report it, he said.

● Illegal water waste under city of Tucson law:

l Letting water leave one's property onto other private property or public streets, sidewalks and alleys.

l Letting water pool in streets or parking lots at levels deeper than a quarter-inch or in larger areas than 150 square feet.

l Washing down driveways, sidewalks or other impervious surfaces unless it's necessary for public safety or welfare.

l Operating misters in unoccupied areas of restaurants.

Fiscal year 2002-03: 128

2003-04: 227

2004-05: 287

2005-06 (through most of June): 266

Source: City of Tucson. In all years, complaints about single-family homes represented well over half of all complaints.