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WATER ALLOWANCES The Water Efficient Landscape Model Ordinance establishes a "water allowance" for each new or redesigned landscaping project greater than 2.500 square-feet in area undertaken by a public agency, business, or installed by a developer at a new apartment complex or housing subdivision. The ordinance doesn't mandate drought.tolerant plants, but the water allowance approach rewards the use of low water using plants. One of the most ambitious experiments in landscape water use reduction has occurred in the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD), where a comprehensive program of water budgeting, metering and pricing incentives combined to slash landscape water use dramatically. The district launched the program after it installed an ascending block rate pricing structure for water that rewarded customers for efficient water usage and penalized overuse. The pricing structure, combined with an aggressive customer outreach program and water use monitoring, enabled the district to cut average water use per acre by 45 percent since 1991. The approach used by IRWD, a master planned com- munity in Orange County, provides each customer with a rolling allocation that accounts for actual weather conditions during the billing cycle, irrigation efficiency and representative landscape plantings. Each customer's landscape area is measured or estimated, and nonresidential customers have separate meters installed for their landscape~ irrigation systems. One multi-family residential com- plex in the district is reported to have cut its annual water use by 200 percent from 1989 to 1994. Once a water budget is established. the customer pays according to use, and can be penalized for up to eight times the base rate for exceeding the allocation. Use under the allocation is rewarded with lower rates. Revenues generated from penalties fund rebates and low-interest loans for customers who need to purchase irrigation controllers or other equip- ment, and to make landscape renovations that reduce water use. Proponents of the water budget approach claim price signals, not lists of recommended or mandatory plants, are the best way to influence end-user behavior and reduce landscape water use. Putting homeowners on water budgets preserves their freedom to choose the type of landscape they want and encourages them to use water efficiently by making them pay for excessive use, say advocates for the "green industry" - landscape architects, nurseries, and maintenance businesses. While IRWD.s approach relies heavily on metering and price incentives, not all parts of the state have water meters installed. Several Central Valley cities such as Sacramento. Bakersfield and Modesto historically have not had meters because nearby rivers have supplied ample water. State legislation enacted in the early 1990s requires meters to be installed for all new water connections, but the rate of installation is fairly slow. However. the law doesn't require that the meters be read or that customers be billed for a metered rate. In the city of Sacramento, whose charter prohibits water meters for residential customers, officials install meters in new homes, but customers continue to be billed a flat. monthly rate. WHAT HOMEOWNERS CAN Do There are many steps homeowners can take to reduce landscape water use. Options range from the simple to the elaborate, but experts recommend starting with an assessment of water use and needs and then developing a plan that addresses those needs efficiently, whether the plan involves a "tune- up" of an already installed system or installation of a new system. In developing a landscape water management program, experts recommend these steps: make sure equipment is working properly; fix any broken equipment; calculate watering rates using equipment such as measured containers and soil-moisture sensors; develop an irrigation schedule based on watering rates and local weather data; set the irrigation controller and modify its programming as neces- sary if weather changes; install a rainfall sensor to shut off the system when rainfall occurs: and check with your local water supplier for more help on how to manage irrigation water use. The California Landscape Contractors Association recommends that landscape renovations and new installations be planned carefully with water use being among the design considerations. Landscape irrigation systems should be designed to water the yard efficiently, using an adjustable timer that limits how long each area is watered. Inexpensive, computer-controlled timers that offer almost 17